NASA has announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), will need to wait even longer to return home.
Originally scheduled for a brief mission when they launched in June, the pair’s return was postponed to February 2025 due to technical challenges with Boeing’s experimental Starliner spacecraft. Now, further delays in launching a new crew capsule have pushed their homecoming to late March or possibly April.
Despite the extended mission, NASA reassured that the delay poses no risks. “The International Space Station is well-stocked with essentials, including food, water, clothing, and oxygen,” NASA stated, noting that recent resupply missions in November also delivered special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays in space.
Typical ISS missions last about six months, with a few extending to a full year. Dr. Simeon Barber of the Open University emphasized that the prolonged stay shouldn’t be a problem for the astronauts.
“While they might be disappointed to miss Christmas with family, the space station is where they love to be,” he said.
The delay stems from the need to launch a new crew before Wilmore and Williams can return. NASA’s next crew rotation, initially planned for February 2025, has been postponed due to delays in preparing SpaceX’s new Dragon capsule. Flight readiness is now expected no earlier than late March.
NASA explored alternative options, such as using an existing Dragon capsule to keep the schedule, but ultimately decided to wait for the new spacecraft to ensure mission safety and efficiency.
The capsule returning Wilmore and Williams will also bring back NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, completing the standard crew rotation aboard the ISS.