Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore return to Earth delayed again? Astronauts stranded on ISS to now return on…

NASA has announced another delay in the return of US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been aboard the International Space Station since June 2024. As per NASA, the two astronauts will remain there at least until late March, further postponing their mission to return home.

NASA said, “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.”

Report by AP also claimed that they wont return until the end of March or even April because of a delay in launching their replacements, according to NASA.

Earlier in August, NASA had informed that the two astronaut will ‘return to Earth next February' i.e. February 2025.

The astronauts had arrived at the ISS in June aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, and were due to spend eight days on the orbiting laboratory.

Why has the mission delayed again?

A fresh crew needs to launch before Wilmore and Williams can return and the next mission has been bumped more than a month, according to the space agency.

NASA's next crew of four was supposed to launch in February, followed by Wilmore and Williams' return home by the end of that month alongside two other astronauts. But SpaceX needs more time to prepare the brand new capsule for liftoff. That launch is now scheduled for no earlier than late March.

NASA said it considered using a different SpaceX capsule to fly up the replacement crew in order to keep the flights on schedule. But it decided the best option was to wait for the new capsule to transport the next crew.

NASA prefers to have overlapping crews at the space station for a smoother transition, according to officials. Most space station missions last six months, with a few reaching a full year.

NASA speaks on basic need in the ISS

In its statement, NASA wrote, “The International space station recently received two resupply flights in November and is well-stocked with everything the crew needs, including food, water, clothing, and oxygen. The resupply spacecraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform.”