Stranded astronauts will come home in 2025 thanks to SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft

The two NASA astronauts stranded on the International Space Station are now on their way home. On September 29, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS and is all set to return them to Earth in early 2025.

It follows Boeing’s Starliner capsule malfunction, which left astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore in space when the capsule lifted off without them for safety reasons and landed back at White Sands Space Harbor in New York on September 6 Mexico.

Here’s what’s next for the two veteran astronauts stuck on the ISS, as well as NASA astronaut Nick Haag and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who joined them aboard the space station last weekend.

Who are the astronauts?

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are experienced astronauts, both Navy officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998 and Wilmore since 2000. Both have extensive experience in space.

Williams is the former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalks by a woman (50 hours and 40 minutes), and in 2007 she ran the first marathon of anyone in space.

In 2009, Wilmore piloted the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the ISS, and in 2014 he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to fabricate a tool – a ratchet wrench – in space, the first time humans created something outside the world.

Wilmore and Williams aren’t the only two astronauts stranded in space, either: This week, the four members of NASA’s Crew-8 became stuck when Hurricane Milton their return home postponed. Crew-8 consists of three NASA astronauts – Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps – and a Roscosmos cosmonaut, Alexander Grebenkin. They were originally scheduled to return on October 7, but their departure from the ISS has been postponed until Sunday, October 13 at 3:05 a.m. ET at the earliest.

What do the astronauts say?

During a live news conference in September, Williams said that despite knowing their mission would only last eight days, they had both trained for it for “a number of years.” They are fully qualified to stay in space for extended periods of time and to help pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will take them home next year.

“It’s very peaceful here,” Williams said on September 13, although she added that they miss their families back home.

During their extended stay, the astronauts work on research, maintenance and data analysis. That’s what they plan to do voices from space in the November presidential elections.

“We’re having a great time here on the ISS,” Williams said at a press conference taken from orbit in July. ‘I’m not complaining. Butch isn’t complaining that we’re here for a few more weeks.’

What was their original mission in space?

Wilmore, as commander, and Williams, as pilot, traveled to the ISS in a 15-foot-wide Boeing-made capsule called Starliner. They were launched on June 5 and docked with the ISS on June 6. NASA hopes Starliner will give the organization a new way to get crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it’s made by Boeing is another sign that NASA is starting to lean. on the private sector for its potential for human spaceflight, The New York Times reported.

Wilmore and Williams’ ISS mission would last just eight days, during which they would test aspects of Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. But due to complications with Starliner, the two astronauts are still there and won’t return until 2025. They’ve stayed busy: working with the crew of ISS Expedition 71 to conduct research and maintenance activities, NASA said.

How did they get stuck in space?

The Starliner was delayed in May due to a problem with a valve in the rocket. Then engineers had to repair a helium leak. That’s all bad news for Boeing. It competes with SpaceX, which has been carrying astronauts to the ISS since 2020 and has made more than two dozen successful trips to the space station.

Starliner was finally launched on June 5 atop an Atlas V rocket, but there were some problems associated with it. NASA has announced this three helium leaks were identified, one of which was known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to the leaks, the crew had to troubleshoot problems with faulty steering thrusters, although the craft was able to successfully dock with the ISS.

SpaceX has also had failures. In 2016, a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launch pad. In July, a Falcon 9 rocket experienced a liquid oxygen leak and put its satellites in the wrong orbit, The New York Times reported. And a Falcon 9 rocket lost a first-stage booster last week when it fell into the Atlantic Ocean and caught fire.

But that said, SpaceX has more than 300 successful Falcon 9 flights to its credit.

When and how will the astronauts get home?

NASA was quick to emphasize that the astronauts are not in any danger.

“There is no rush to get (the) crew home,” NASA said said in a statement last month. “This is a lesson learned from the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. Our NASA and Boeing teams are reviewing data from additional testing and analysis in space and on the ground, providing mission managers with data to make the best and safest decision about how and when to return. crew home.”

NASA said on August 24 that it had decided to return Starliner to Earth without a crew, and the spacecraft landed safely in New Mexico on September 6.

Wilmore and Williams are brought to the home port SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft early next year and “will formally continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025,” the space agency said said in a statement. “They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.”

Four crew members were originally scheduled to be on board at launch, but two were left behind to make room for Wilmore and Williams’ return journey.

“Spaceflight is risky, even in the safest and most routine mode,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement on August 24. “A test flight by its nature is neither safe nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni on board the International Space Station and to bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.”

Stuck in space: a timeline

• May: The Starliner launch is postponed due to a problem with a valve in the rocket and then a helium leak.
• June 5: Starliner is launched with Williams and Wilmore on board.
• June 6: Starliner docks with the ISS despite three helium leaks and faulty thrusters.
• September 6: Starliner leaves the ISS and lands in New Mexico, leaving Williams and Wilmore behind.
• September 28: SpaceX Crew-9 mission launches with Haag and Gorbunov on a Dragon spacecraft.
• September 29: SpaceX Dragon docks with ISS.
• From February 2025: SpaceX Dragon spacecraft returns to Earth along with Williams, Wilmore, Haag and Gorbunov.