The return to Earth of astronauts stranded in the ISS postponed again

NASA announced on December 17, 2024 that the SpaceX Crew-10 mission would not ultimately take off in February 2025, as planned, but “ as soon as possible » end of March 2025. This mission aims to bring 4 astronauts aboard the ISS (the International Space Station).

Why this delay? So that the NASA and SpaceX teams can properly finalize the manufacturing of the new Dragon spacecraft, aboard which the astronauts will travel. Steve Stich, director of NASA’s commercial crew program, explains in the space agency’s press release: “The manufacturing, assembly, testing and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking undertaking that requires great attention to detail. »

The use of another Dragon spacecraft was considered by NASA to launch the Crew-10 mission. However, this idea was ultimately abandoned, in favor of the new Dragon ship, still under construction.

The return to Earth of the castaways from the ISS postponed again

If delays and mission postponements can happen, this one has a special flavor. Indeed, the astronauts of the Crew-9 mission, including Butch Wilmore and Suni Willams, now nicknamed the two “ISS castaways”, will only return to Earth after the arrival of Crew-10 on the ISS. The goal is for the Crew-9 team to pass on the knowledge learned on board to the Crew-10 team.

As a reminder, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the ISS since June 2024 following technical problems with their ship, the Boeing Starliner. Their space journey was originally only supposed to last 8 days. The Crew-9 mission, which was initially supposed to have 4 astronauts on board, ultimately had to leave 2 empty places in its ship to be able to bring the 2 castaways from space back to dry land. A goal which will finally be achieved at the end of March, hopefully, after almost 9 months of waiting.