Stranded NASA astronauts will be stuck in space a little longer

Two NASA astronauts who have been stuck in space since June have had their return flight pushed back again, after what was supposed to be an eight-day trip.

The agency said it expected Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore to be back on Earth no earlier than late March, instead of February as planned earlier. The later date will give crews more time to process the SpaceX capsule the pair will return in, NASA said Tuesday.

Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 61, were the first people to blast to space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Their journey was supposed to inaugurate a new way to enter orbit from the U.S. Instead, Starliner was beset with technical difficulties—including propulsion system issues—and returned to Earth without the pair, abandoning them on the International Space Station.

Boeing executives said the vehicle could safely bring the two astronauts home but NASA opted to have the pair wait months for a ride home with SpaceX. The episode has raised questions about the future of Starliner. Boeing, which helped put the first men on the moon, has been exploring a sale of its space business.

NASA has since turned to Elon Musk’s SpaceX as a top agency partner. The spacecraft is set to bring Williams and Wilmore home alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, NASA said.

Despite their monthslong ordeal, Williams and Wilmore haven’t publicly complained. Their days are crammed with assignments including spacewalks, hardware updates and toilet maintenance. They usually spend their downtime exercising, running experiments and rehydrating or reheating meals.

They flew to space without extra clothes so they could make room for a pump the ISS needed to convert urine to potable water. The pair have relied on spare outfits onboard.

Williams and Wilmore have spent months on the ISS before, but those trips were planned. The Starliner flight was supposed to be a career capstone for the veteran astronauts, both former Navy pilots with engineering degrees.

New teams of astronauts and cosmonauts travel to the ISS several times a year and often stay for six months or more. Delays aren’t unusual in launches and returns.

Williams’s mother told The Wall Street Journal earlier this year that she hears from her daughter nearly every other day and she has sounded fine and unworried.

NASA said the ISS has enough oxygen, food and supplies for however long the pair stay in space. Resupply flights brought items for the ISS crew to celebrate the holidays.