LOS ANGELES -- NASA and SpaceX are accelerating the target launch and return dates for the upcoming crew rotation missions to and from the International Space Station (ISS), which will bring the agency's stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back home.

NASA said SpaceX will switch capsules and bring Butch Wilmore and Needham native Suni Williams home in mid-March.

After Elon Musk said SpaceX would rescue the “stranded” Starliner astronauts, NASA moved their return date up by two weeks — a slight adjustment to a plan that had already been in place for months.

NASA on Tuesday swapped out the astronaut capsule it plans to use for an upcoming routine flight to the International Space Station over SpaceX production delays, a scheduling move that allows for a slightly earlier return for the two astronauts who have been on the station far longer than expected.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who is from Needham, could be coming home in mid-March because NASA will switch capsules for upcoming flights.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two Starliner astronauts who have had a prolonged aboard the ISS, are expected to return home in early March, according to NASA.