Unexpected Delay Prevents Astronauts from Leaving the ISS as Scheduled

NASA announced on Tuesday that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain on the ISS until at least late March due to an unexpected delay in their return mission. Originally arriving in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner for an eight-day stay, issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system led NASA to alter plans, deciding to return Wilmore and Williams with SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission instead.

Crew-9’s astronauts arrived at the ISS in late September aboard a Dragon spacecraft, leaving two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams. The plan was for all four to return to Earth in February 2025. However, NASA announced on Tuesday that Crew-10, which would replace Crew-9 and the stranded astronauts, will now launch no earlier than March 2025. As a result, both crews will remain on the ISS for a “handover period.”

“The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission,” NASA said in a blog post.

The bottom line is that Wilmore and Williams will spend more than nine months in space, rather than eight days as initially planned.

SpaceX has been conducting regular missions every six months to rotate ISS crews, ensuring continuous operation of the station.

Read Original Article: Science Alert

Read More: Study Finds Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io Is Not Powered by a Global Magma Ocean