Astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague, astronaut Butch Wilmore, who travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) in June, must keep longer in area attributable to technical points with Boeing’s Starliner and delays within the subsequent crew launch.
The astronauts who went on June 5, 2024, have been initially set to return in February 2025, however Nasa introduced on Tuesday that they’ll stay aboard till no less than late March.
The duo went to the ISS on Boeing’s Starliner for what was meant to be an 8-day mission. But issues with the Starliner, like helium leaks and weak thrusters, pressured Nasa to ship it again to Earth empty in September. The astronauts stayed on the station, persevering with their work whereas Nasa adjusted its plans.
The delay is because of preparations for a brand new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with Nasa and SpaceX selecting to prioritise security over velocity. “Fabrication, meeting, testing, and ultimate integration of a brand new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavour that requires nice consideration to element,” Steve Stich, head of Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program, was quoted as saying to CBS News.
The Crew-9 mission, which included Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, was launched to the ISS on September 30 to exchange Williams and Wilmore. However, the efforts to convey the duo again failed as a result of hazards of Hurricane Helene, together with different technical points.
Missions on the ISS normally final six months, however Wilmore and Williams will spend about ten months in area as a result of delay.
The subsequent crew, Crew-10, is predicted to launch in late March on the brand new SpaceX capsule. It will embrace Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. Once they arrive, there shall be a “handover interval,” the place Wilmore, Williams, and their teammates, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, are set to transient the brand new crew on station operations.
