NASA’s Stranded Astronauts Will Stay on the ISS for Another 9 Months

Berfin Ceren Meray
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Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been stuck aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024, and their long-awaited return to Earth has just been delayed once again! Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA has confirmed that the astronauts will remain in space for at least 9 more months. How much longer will these brave astronauts stay in orbit, and when will they finally return home? Get the full story on their extraordinary space journey!

The return of the "stranded" NASA astronauts to Earth has been delayed until at least the end of March 2025 due to issues with the SpaceX capsule, NASA announced.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024, have been stranded in space. The astronauts, who were initially sent for a 10-day mission to the ISS, could not return to Earth due to a malfunction and a helium leak in Boeing's spacecraft. NASA attempted to resolve the issue, and the astronauts' return was delayed by three months. In the end, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth in September without a crew. The return of the astronauts, stranded at the ISS since June, has now been delayed once again.

According to a blog post published by NASA on Tuesday, December 17, the next crew change at the ISS, which was originally scheduled for February, will now take place at the end of March 2025.

The Crew 10 mission, which was initially planned for February 2025, would have launched four crew members to the space station. However, NASA and SpaceX postponed the launch in order to complete a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission. The spacecraft being developed is designed to carry seven astronauts at once into low Earth orbit.

Of course, in order to safely bring the astronauts back to Earth, "the production, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft requires meticulous effort and great attention to detail."

After evaluating the necessary process for the new spacecraft, Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, emphasized that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, stranded at the ISS, will stay in space for an additional month.

It seems that the NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who were initially launched for a 10-day mission to the ISS, will now remain in space for at least 9 months!

Having become long-term residents of the ISS, Wilmore and Williams are likely to remind many of the astronauts who have spent the longest time in space.

One of the astronauts with the longest time in space, Scott Kelly, stayed aboard the ISS for 340 days between 2015 and 2016.

His twin brother, astronaut Mark Kelly, was monitored on Earth, allowing researchers to compare their health and physiological conditions. In 2023, astronaut Frank Rubio and six others stayed in orbit for a year.