Key Takeaways
- NASA and SpaceX are working together to return stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical.
- The astronauts will return to Earth after the launch of Crew-10 to the International Space Station.
- The new launch schedule of Crew-10 means the astronauts will stay in space at least one more month.
Los Angeles: NASA said on Wednesday it is working with SpaceX to safely return the agency’s stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back home “as soon as practical.”
“NASA and SpaceX are expeditiously working to safely return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical, while also preparing for the launch of Crew-10 to complete a handover between expeditions,” NASA said on X.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch Crew-10 to the International Space Station (ISS).
The agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will return to Earth following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory.
Williams and Wilmore have been stuck in space since June last year due to technical problems of Boeing’s Starliner which took them to ISS.
NASA’s previous plan was to get them back in February. But the new launch schedule of Crew-10 meant the two astronauts will stay in space at least one more month.
