On March 14, a journey that was originally supposed to be a little over a week — but was stretched out to nine months — began to come to an end. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were selected for the first crewed test flight on Boeing's Starliner and were only supposed to stay at the International Space Station for 10 days, but when NASA discovered several helium leaks and propulsion system issues on the spacecraft, the agency decided to send it back empty until another mission could be sent up to get the astronauts.
This isn't like some low-gravity version of "The Terminal," in which travelers are stuck in limbo due to some administrative glitch. Space can have devastating and profound health effects on astronauts, which means Williams and Wilmore's extended stay on the ISS could result in pronounced impacts on their bodies.
