NASA Postpones Return of Stranded Astronauts to March
NASA has indicated that additional time is required to finalize the processing of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
On December 17, NASA announced that two astronauts stranded in space for several months won’t be able to return to Earth until March, citing a series of delays caused by issues with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.
According to NASA, they require more time to finish processing SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is anticipated to reach the agency’s processing facility in Florida in early January.
Initially, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were expected to head home within a week after their journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission in June.
Originally, NASA aimed to launch the Crew-10 mission in February 2025, with Wilmore and Williams due to return home by the end of that month alongside two other astronauts who arrived at the ISS on September 29 aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.
However, the pair now face another setback, as NASA declared on Tuesday that the Crew-10 launch will be delayed until March 2025. By the time they make their return next year, they will have spent over nine months in space.
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NASA mentioned that it considered deploying another SpaceX spacecraft but ultimately opted to wait for the Dragon capsule to be prepared, scheduling the launch of the Crew-10 mission for late March.
On Tuesday, NASA confirmed that Crew-9 will only return to Earth once Crew-10 has arrived at the orbital facility for a handover period.
During the handover, Crew-9 will “share any lessons learned with the newly arrived crew and facilitate a smoother transition for ongoing science and maintenance at the station.” However, NASA has not disclosed the length of the handover duration.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
