NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spoke from the International Space Station during a press conference on Friday, September 13, 2024. This image was taken from a NASA livestream. (NASA via AP, File)
Two NASA astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for over eight months may finally return home sooner than expected. The space agency announced that SpaceX will now use a different capsule to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back in mid-March, cutting their prolonged stay by at least two weeks.
Initially, the pair was set to return in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule after a one-week test flight. However, major technical issues with Starliner forced NASA to send the spacecraft back to Earth empty, stranding the astronauts in space. NASA then reassigned them to a SpaceX mission, but delays in preparing a brand-new Dragon capsule further extended their stay.
To speed up their return, NASA has now decided to use an older, previously assigned capsule for the next crewed mission instead. The revised plan moves the launch of their replacements to March 12, allowing Wilmore and Williams to return shortly after. The change also pushes back a private astronaut mission organized by Houston-based Axiom Space, which was originally scheduled for spring. This mission, involving astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India, will take off later.
NASA prefers to have a new crew arrive at the ISS before the current team departs. The incoming crew will include two NASA astronauts, a Japanese astronaut, and a Russian cosmonaut. Once they reach the ISS, Wilmore and Williams and two other astronauts who have been aboard since September will begin preparations for their long-awaited return home.
NASA’s decision comes just weeks after the agency pledged to expedite the astronauts’ return. The announcement follows recent remarks by former U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who had publicly expressed a desire to speed up the process.
With the latest changes, Wilmore and Williams can finally look forward to ending their unexpectedly long mission, which has tested their endurance and adaptability in space.
