A long trip to space is about to get even longer. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally supposed to spend only about a week aboard the International Space Station, but due to issues with their spaceship, have remained stuck for months. Originally slated to return in February, the two astronauts are now going to remain onboard on the ISS until “no earlier” than late March 2025, according to a recent report.
Williams and Wilmore blasted off in June for a trip that was supposed to end eight days after they landed. When Boeing’s starliner capsule began experiencing technical problems, however, NASA sent it back empty in September so it could be repaired. The deadline has been pushed back to late March to permit more time for “complete processing” of the new SpaceX spacecraft that will be used to retrieve the stranded Americans.
“Fabrication, assembly, testing and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” Steve Stich, the manager at NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement. “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 astronauts will be rescued by a team known as Crew-10, which includes NASA astronauts commander Anne McClain, and pilot Nichole Ayers; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency mission specialist Takuya Onishi,; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They are currently training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
