The two “space castaways” Barry (Butch) Wilmore and Sunita (Suni) Williams play overtime. While they were due to return to Earth in February 2025, they are forced to wait until the end of March for the arrival of the Crew-10 mission, which is experiencing a development delay.
Their stay is extended again! Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stuck in the international space station (ISS) since their arrival in early June 2024, will still have to wait. The two American astronauts will not return to land before the end of March 2025, according to a NASA press release dated December 17, 2024… Because they must wait for the arrival of the Crew-10 mission (in which Anne McClain must participate) . However, Crew-10, which was to reach the ISS in February 2025, is experiencing a delay due to SpaceX’s delay in manufacturing a new Dragon ship.
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New postponement, therefore, for the two American astronauts. Originally, in June 2024, they were only scheduled to stay eight days in space for the demonstration mission of the Starliner, Boeing’s spacecraft. But following various technical problems that occurred on the way out, including helium leaks, the extinction of five of the capsule’s twenty-eight thrusters (one of which never became operational again), their return had was suspended for the first time by NASA, because it was considered too dangerous.
The Starliner capsule returned empty on September 6, 2024 to New Mexico without too many complications, apart from the overheating of two RCS (Reaction Control System) engines. And the two astronauts were due to return in February 2025 with Space X’s Crew 9 mission.
On the night of September 29 to 30, 2024, the American Nick Hague and the Russian Aleksandr Gorbunov joined the ISS. There were only two of them aboard their Dragon capsule, the other two places being reserved for “space castaways”. Crew 9 also brought Butch Wilmore a suit compatible with the Dragon.
Will this postponement of the return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore be the last?
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