The two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck in space since June because of technical issues will have to remain at the International Space Station even longer – stretching a mission that was originally supposed to last only eight days to more than nine months.
On Tuesday, Nasa announced that its astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with Russia’s cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10 next year. Originally scheduled for a February launch, the space agency has pushed back the Crew-10 mission’s launch date to no earlier than late March of 2025.
According to Nasa, the change gives Nasa and SpaceX teams “time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission”. The new spacecraft is now set to arrive at Nasa’s processing facility in Florida in early January.
In June, Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS as part of a test by Boeing’s Starliner before it could receive Nasa’s approval for routine flights. However, due to a series of technical issues, including reaction control thrusters that failed during Starliner’s first docking attempt, the two veteran astronauts’ return home was heavily delayed.
On Tuesday, Nasa said the ISS recently received two resupply flights in November and is well stocked with everything the current crew needs, including food, water, clothing and oxygen. The space agency added that the resupply aircraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform.
Explaining the delay, Nasa’s commercial crew program director Steve Stich said: “Fabrication, assembly, testing and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail.”
He added: “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.”
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