Astronauts home after 9 months in space: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English,

this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme:

it was only supposed to be eight days in space,

but after nine months, Nasa astronauts have returned to Earth.

Hello, I'm Georgie. And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet, on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

So, let's hear more about this story.

After nine months in space,

Nasa astronauts

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have finally arrived back on Earth.

Their stay on the International Space Station, or the ISS,

was only supposed to last eight days,

but their mission was dramatically extended

after the spacecraft they arrived on, called Starliner,

began to have technical problems.

Starliner was sent back to Earth empty in September 2024,

so Butch and Suni needed an alternative spacecraft to take them home.

Nine months after they arrived, they're finally back.

They splashed down into the ocean off the coast of Florida

on Tuesday afternoon.

Let's have a look at our first headline.

This one is from The Independent in the UK.

Nasa's stranded astronauts finally begin return to Earth

after being stuck in space for months.

And that headline again from The Independent.

Nasa's stranded astronauts finally begin return to Earth

after being stuck in space for months.

Now, this headline was written before the astronauts splashed down,

and we have two interesting and related words here – 'stuck' and 'stranded'.

OK, let's talk first about being stuck.

The astronauts were stuck in space for months.

So this word stuck is related to the words sticky and stick.

So, for example, my shoe broke at the weekend

and I used glue to stick it together.

That is a very clever idea.

So, the two pieces of the shoe can't move.

They're stuck.

And if you describe something as stuck, it means it can't move.

That's right. And if you think about the astronauts, we have this idea

of being unable to move.

The astronauts planned to be in space for only eight days,

but the problems with the spacecraft meant they were stuck

on the International Space Station for nine months.

Now there are different degrees of how literal the word 'stuck' can be.

The astronauts were quite literally stuck in space.

They couldn't move. And I was once stuck in a lift and I couldn't move.

That was also the literal sense.

Yes, but we can also use this word stuck in a less literal sense.

For example, I was stuck talking to the most boring person

at the party last night.

Now, I wasn't literally unable to leave,

but I couldn't think of a polite way to leave the conversation,

and we can use 'stuck' in that kind of situation as well.

Yes. Now, what about this word 'stranded' –

'the stranded astronauts'? 'Stranded' is similar to stuck in

that you're unable to leave,

but it has a more specific meaning, doesn't it?

Yeah. So, if you are stranded, it means you've been left somewhere

and you have no way of leaving.

But it has this added sense of needing outside help or assistance.

Yes, we often imagine being stranded on a desert island.

That means that you're on an island in the middle of the ocean,

without a boat, or any way of getting off the desert island –

you're going to need outside assistance to help you get off.

We had: stuck – unable to move.

For example, the lock on the bathroom door broke,

so I was stuck in there for hours.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about the return of Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore

and Suni Williams.

On Tuesday afternoon,

the SpaceX Dragon capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere,

and there were temperatures of up to 1,600°C.

Four parachutes opened up to take them slowly to splash down into the ocean.

As the capsule slowed down quickly,

the astronauts experienced strong forces on their bodies, known as

G-forces, about four times the Earth's gravity.

And our next headline is about the journey back to Earth.

Two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months head back to Earth.

And that's from Sky News.

That headline again.

Two astronauts stuck in space for more than nine months head back to Earth.

And that's from Sky News.

So, we see that word 'stuck' again, that we just looked at in the first headline,

'astronauts stuck in space'.

But this time we're looking at the phrasal verb 'head back' –

'the astronauts head back to Earth'.

So, Georgie, what can you tell us?

Well, quite simply, head back means return,

but it's a good one to add to your vocabulary because it's quite common

in everyday speech.

For example, imagine you and I go for dinner after work

and I say, I'm going to head back home.

I've got some things to do before tomorrow.

And after we finish recording this,

Georgie, we're going to head back to our desks, aren't we?

Yes, we are. As I've said, 'head back' is a good one to learn

because it's much more natural to use 'head back' in those sentences

than return.

It would sound a little formal to say, I'm going to return home,

or we're going to return to our desks.

Yeah, now it's absolutely fine to say 'return',

but if you want to start sounding more natural,

learning phrasal verbs is a really good way to do that.

Yes, and we can also use head back to mean to return to where you started.

For example, on a hike you might say it's getting dark.

We should probably head back.

That just means you turn around and go the same way you came.

Yeah. Now, one last thing to mention is that you can also use the word 'head'

on its own to mean something like go or leave.

So, for example, it's getting late.

Let's head home or it's getting late. Shall we head?

And we also say 'head off', meaning to leave.

I'm going to head off.

I'm going to leave.

We've had: head back – return. For example,

My kids are heading back from school now.

They'll be home any minute.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about the astronauts who were stuck in space for nine months.

Now, the astronauts Butch and Suni

didn't just sit around waiting for the spacecraft.

They got a lot done.

They did. They carried out experiments, did spacewalks –

that's when an astronaut goes outside the spacecraft into space –

with Suni breaking the record for the woman who spent the most hours

outside of the space station.

In the weeks before they left the International Space Station,

Butch said they weren't fazed when their mission was extended.

If you aren't fazed by something, it doesn't worry you.

But having said that, long durations in space can have negative effects

on the body and it can take a long time to return to normal.

And we have a headline here about the downsides of being in space for so long.

Nasa's stranded astronauts are finally on way home after nine grueling months,

and that's from the Daily Mail.

That headline, again from the Daily Mail.

Nasa's stranded astronauts are finally on way home after nine grueling months.

Now, this headline again was written before they arrived home.

Yes. And we're looking at this word 'grueling' – 'nine gruelling months'.

Now, it seemed that Butch and Suni actually felt fine about being up

in space for all that time.

But this word gruelling is quite negative, isn't it?

Yes, if something is gruelling, it's extremely tiring and difficult.

It's a very expressive word,

and it's often emphasised in the pronunciation.

Nine gruelling months.

It makes it sound terrible.

Yes, like it was a big struggle that they needed a lot of effort to overcome.

What else can we describe as gruelling?

Well, an inexperienced runner might find a marathon extremely grueling.

Yes. Or we could describe a long day at work as gruelling.

Perhaps you have a 12-hour shift in a busy hospital emergency department.

That's really gruelling.

We've had: gruelling – extremely tiring and difficult.

For example, I've got a gruelling schedule

at work tomorrow – back to back meetings all day with no breaks.

And that's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed this programme, try the worksheet on our website

to test what you've learned.

Visit bbclearningenglish.com.

We learnt a useful phrasal verb 'head back' in this episode.

But did you know we have a whole series about phrasal verbs on our website?

Search for Phrasal verbs with Georgie at bbclearningenglish.com.

Goodbye for now. Goodbye.