Dec. 17 (UPI) — Two Boeing Starliner astronauts, stranded on the International Space Station in June after what was speculated to be a weeklong check flight, are dealing with a brand new delay of their return journey to Earth, NASA revealed Tuesday.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore had been scheduled to return on a SpaceX Dragon flight in February, after they had been compelled to desert Starliner as a result of helium leaks and thruster points. The pair will now return to Earth no sooner than late March, 10 months after they initially launched, as they wait for his or her replacements to reach on the ISS.
“NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 now could be focusing on no sooner than late March 2025 to launch 4 crew members to the area station,” NASA wrote Tuesday in a publish on X.
“The change offers NASA and SpaceX time to finish processing on a brand new Dragon spacecraft for the mission, set to reach in early January.”
“Fabrication, meeting, testing and ultimate integration of a brand new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires nice consideration to element,” stated Steve Stich, supervisor of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
“We admire the onerous work by the SpaceX staff to broaden the Dragon fleet in help of our missions and the pliability of the station program and expedition crews as we work collectively to finish the brand new capsule’s readiness for flight,” Stich added Tuesday.
Wilmore and Williams arrived on the ISS on June 6, on what was the primary crewed check flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The mission was speculated to be the ultimate step earlier than NASA licensed Boeing to fly crews to and from the area station, however defective thrusters stranded the pair.
Starliner returned to Earth uncrewed in September and NASA despatched solely two astronauts, as an alternative of 4, on its SpaceX Crew-9 mission to go away room for Wilmore and Williams once they return subsequent yr.
The astronauts are ready for SpaceX Crew-10 to switch them on ISS. NASA prefers to have overlapping crews on the area station for smoother transitions, in keeping with officers.
The company’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with astronauts Nick Hague, in addition to Williams and Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10. The handover interval permits astronauts to change details about ongoing science experiments and upkeep tasks.
Two resupply flights in November introduced the crew extra meals, water, clothes and oxygen, in addition to gadgets to have fun the vacations.
SpaceX has been transporting astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020. Plans for Boeing’s Starliner to change into a major a part of NASA’s business payload program will proceed, in keeping with the company, regardless of technical issues that made the “danger to the crew increased than they wished.”
Both the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and Boeing’s Starliner are slated to change into NASA’s automobiles to shuttle astronauts to and from the area station and its eventual substitute, whereas supporting future missions to the moon and Mars.
