Return to Earth delayed until “end of March at the earliest” for the two American astronauts stranded on the ISS

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams are going to have to have a little extra patience. The two American astronauts stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) since June will not return to Earth until “end of March at the earliest”announced NASA on Tuesday, December 17, a minimum of one month after the expected date.

Initially leaving for space on June 5 for a mission of a few days, these two space veterans have been stuck for six months in the ISS due to failures on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft which had transported them in June.

After long weeks of tests on Starliner, the American space agency decided in the summer to bring it back empty and bring back the two castaways with the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The latter took off at the end of September with two passengers on board – instead of the four initially planned – to leave two seats free and joined the ISS where it is now waiting to be relayed by the Crew-10 mission.

However, NASA announced on Tuesday the postponement from February to “end of March at the earliest” of the launch of Crew-10 in order to give “to NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete the development of a new Dragon spacecraft”. This announcement therefore further delays the return to Earth of the two shipwrecked astronauts and the crew of Crew-9, Nick Hague and Alexandre Gorbounov.

At least nine months in space

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will therefore spend at least nine months in space, instead of the eight to ten days initially planned. They were conducting the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner when problems were detected with the propulsion system.

These failures led NASA to question the reliability of the spacecraft, a snub for the American manufacturer already mired in repeated setbacks with its airliners.

During a press conference at the beginning of September, the two astronauts nevertheless assured that they were adapting well to their extended stay. “The transition wasn’t that difficultdeclared Suni Williams. We’re both from the Navy, we’ve both been deployed before. We are not surprised when missions are changed. »