NASA announced that astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), will likely return to Earth next year due to ongoing issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Initially planned as an eight-day mission, the astronauts have been stranded for nearly two months as Boeing struggles to fix its vessel. While NASA remains hopeful that engineers might resolve the technical difficulties soon, it has set a contingency plan for the astronauts to return on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, now rescheduled for February next year.
During a press conference on Wednesday, NASA detailed the plan, which would involve Wilmore and Williams hitching a ride with SpaceX, given the uncertainty surrounding Starliner’s operational status. The astronauts, who have been residing on the ISS far longer than anticipated, are awaiting resolution but may need to remain in orbit for several more months if the spacecraft’s issues persist.
Boeing, however, has pushed back against claims that the astronauts are stranded. The company maintains that the mission’s extended duration was within the realm of possibility and insists that contingencies were always part of the plan. Despite these assertions, the crew’s extended stay on the ISS was not planned, and their prolonged wait to return has drawn attention to the challenges facing Boeing’s space program.
