NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024, will not be returning to Earth until at least March 2025. This comes after NASA announced yet another delay in their rescue mission.
Williams and Wilmore, who were the test pilots of the first manned mission of the Boeing Starliner capsule, went on what was supposed to be an eight-day trip to the ISS.
But technical issues on the untested spacecraft forced a delay in its departure, and NASA eventually scrapped the idea of bringing the two astronauts back to Earth onboard the Starliner.
Instead, Elon Musk's SpaceX was roped in to bring Williams and Wilmore safely back to Earth, even if that meant the duo had to remain on the ISS for a few more months.
NASA had initially intended to bring them back by February 2025, but on Tuesday, the timeline was once again revised to Spring 2025.
Efforts to bring Williams and Wilmore on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission failed due to the hazards of Hurricane Helene, along with other technical issues.
This would mean that the next window of opportunity the duo have for their return to Earth is in March 2025, when SpaceX Crew-10 is launched.
Last month, there were concerns about Williams's health due to her prolonged stay on the ISS after photos showed her to be considerably weak, with sunken cheeks and a thinner frame.
However, NASA had played down the concerns, saying that the weight loss was not due to any deficiencies in her diet, but a result of the microgravity environment aboard the ISS.
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