It’s been ten months in low gravity, but Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are still not going home.
NASA stated on Tuesday that the return of the agency’s astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June, has again been postponed.
There are already fears regarding the health of the astronauts after they seemed to have lost a lot of weight in public photos. However, NASA said that the current delay posed no risk to the astronauts.
The two astronauts arrived at the ISS in early June aboard a Boeing Starliner capsule for what was intended to be an eight-day mission.
However, due to multiple technical issues on Starliner, NASA eventually scheduled it to return crewless.
A partially crewed SpaceX capsule arrived at the ISS in September. The extra space was needed to accommodate the two astronauts who were stranded. NASA normally rotates its station crews every six months, so the return was originally scheduled for February 2025.
Mission delayed to have more time to prepare
On Tuesday, NASA adjusted the launch date of the Crew-10 mission, which should take over the ISS for another 6-month long shift. The date has been set for no earlier than March 2025.
“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
“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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