Major update on two NASA astronauts stranded in space on ISS after Boeing Starliner malfunctions
TWO astronauts stranded on the International Space Station are set to be stuck for even longer as their escape has been delayed.
Americans Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore won’t be back on solid footing until late March at the earliest after NASA set back their return.
It means their eight-day trip to space will turn into a whopping nine months after first rocketing up to the heavens in June.
The pair travelled to the ISS for a test mission, but their return was extended by eight months after the Boeing Starliner capsule they arrived on was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.
NASA said Williams and Wilmore would now return with other astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
The foursome will venture home when the Crew-10 mission reaches the space station – but that is now not expected to take off in late March.
NASA cites extra preparation needed to launch four new crew members – Crew-10 – to the International Space Station via what they call SpaceX’s “human space transportation system”.
NASA said it and SpaceX have assessed various options for managing the next crewed handover, including using another Dragon spacecraft and manifest adjustments.
A statement said: “After careful consideration, the team determined that launching Crew-10 in late March, following completion of the new Dragon spacecraft, was the best option for meeting NASA’s requirements and achieving space station objectives for 2025.”
NASA said the delay was to give the teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew, said: “Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavour that requires great attention to detail.
“We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”
The agency did not specify an exact date for the return of the astronauts.
The Crew-10 mission was originally slated to launch in February.
Hague and Gorbunov boarded the ISS in September, over three months after Williams and Wilmore.