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Two astronauts who are stranded in space for eight months for what should have been an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) have said it was hard watching their ship depart without them.

Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore travelled to the ISS in June for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission.

Problems with the ship they travelled on, the Boeing Starliner, mean the have to return in 2025 on a different space capsule.

Nasa say Suni and Butch will be brought back to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon craft next year.

Speaking to journalists, the astronauts said it was "hard" watching Starliner return to Earth last week.

They also said they were happy and "trained to expect the unexpected".

The ISS is about the size as Buckingham palace and the living space is about the size of a six-bedroom house.

Suni and Butch are sharing the area with 10 other people - four other US astronauts, three Russian cosmonauts and three Chinese taikonauts.

The two astronauts have their own sleeping area with a sleeping bag and two laptops to keep in touch by email or calls with family at home.

The two astronauts still have a routine and they get up early to start their day.

Butch Wilmore gets up at 04:30 and Suni Williams at 06:30.

They may not have expected to be up there that long but that doesn't mean they are on holiday, they have a daily schedule of tasks to complete.

These would range from maintenance on the ISS to science tests which Suni said they sometimes do upside down.

One problem with the lack of gravity is it can cause a loss of muscle and bone density so exercise is really important.

The ISS is equipped with a special gym equipment, designed by Nasa, including a Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) for weightlifting and treadmills which have straps so the astronaut using it doesn't float away.

Both astronauts said they enjoy doing the two hours or more of exercise they have to do.

And there is an upside to the lack of gravity.

"Your joints don't ache because there's no pressure on them," Butch said, which is "actually quite nice".

There's more people on board than usual so what about going to the toilet?

Normally the astronauts' sweat and urine is recycled into drinking water, but a recent fault has meant the crew have had to store urine instead.

Among the things Suni and Butch carried with them to the ISS were replacement parts for its microgravity plumbing system.

The two astronauts have spent some of their time doing a bit of "orbital plumbing" and trying to fix the issue.

The astronauts have enough supplies up there.

There is plenty of water and a recent resupply missions means there is also more than enough food.

They will even be able to vote in the US Election as they have applied for postal votes.

Suni Williams says being able to "vote from space is pretty cool".

Both astronauts say they miss the people back on Earth.

Suni said she missed her family "my two dogs," and my friends.

"I know they understand. I know it's tough on them as well," Suni said. "But everyone understands and everyone is cheering for us to get back."

Butch said he won't be there for for most of his daughter's final year of high school.

Suni said that being in space makes her think more about planet Earth.

"It opens up the door to making you think a bit differently. It's the one planet we have, and we should be taking care of it," she said.