Sunita Willams' Return From ISS Delayed Again? NASA Makes Announcement - Check New Timeline

Two US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded for months on the International Space Station (ISS) will remain there at least late March, NASA said on Tuesday 17th December 2024, as it announced another delay in the mission to bring them home. The veteran astronauts arrived at the ISS in June aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft and were due to spend eight days on the orbiting laboratory.

The Starliner's propulsion system started facing problems during the flight there and due to it NASA opted for a big change in plans. 

The space agency decided to return it to Earth without its crew after weeks of intensive tests on the Starliner. NASA will bring the two stranded astronauts back home with the members of a SpaceX mission called Crew-9.

SpaceX Mission Crew - 9

Crew-9's two astronauts arrived at the ISS aboard a Dragon spacecraft in late September, with two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams. The plan was for all four to return home in February 2025. But NASA said on Tuesday that Crew-10, which would relieve Crew-9 and the stranded pair, would now launch no earlier than March 2025 and both teams would remain on board for a “handover period.”

"The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission," NASA said in a blog post.

Wilmore and Williams will spend more than nine months in space, rather than eight days as initially planned.

Billionaire Elon Musk's private company SpaceX, has been flying regular missions every six months to allow the rotation of ISS crews.

SpaceX Mission Crew-10

The new spacecraft is set to arrive to the company’s processing facility in Florida in early January.

“Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”

NASA and SpaceX assessed various options for managing the next crewed handover, including using another Dragon spacecraft and manifest adjustments. After careful consideration, the team determined that launching Crew-10 in late March, following completion of the new Dragon spacecraft, was the best option for meeting NASA’s requirements and achieving space station objectives for 2025.