From 8 days to 10 months in space: Where are NASA's solutions to bring astronauts stranded on the International Space Station back to Earth?
While NASA has given itself until mid-August to decide on which spacecraft will return astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, the company says a solution will finally be reached by the end of next week, or the week after.
They launched on June 5, 2024, for an eight-day mission, but won't return until 2025. Two American astronauts are stranded on the International Space Station (ISS). They were originally scheduled to stay in space for a short mission, but a series of technical problems forced NASA to postpone their return.
Boost from SpaceX
“Butch and Sonny aren't stuck in space.The US space agency confirmed that three weeks after the astronauts arrived at the International Space Station, stressing that tests were still needed for a safer return. However, a few days after these statements, NASA publicly admitted that the duo were indeed stranded on the International Space Station.
The agency invited Elon Musk and his company SpaceX to return its astronauts. A NASA assistant official said: “We don’t have to put the crew back on the Starliner: we can put them back on another vehicle.” He explained that this created a shadow over Boeing, and Elon Musk's company was increasingly favored by the US federal authorities in conquering space. the world.
Back in April 2025
This will not be the first long stay on the ISS for Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who are 61 and 58 years old, respectively. Wilmore stayed for 178 days and Williams for 322. NASA announced that on Saturday, August 17, 2024, a supply vehicle docked with the ISS, and that having two additional people on the space station is not a problem.
“We're in no hurry to go home.”The astronauts announced in early July 2024 that they did not yet know that they would not return for eight months, in April 2025. the world.
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