Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and her partner Butch Wilmore are stuck in space. They were supposed to return to Earth after spending 8 days in space, but 6 months have passed and both the astronauts are still at the International Space Station. It is not that NASA did not try to bring them back, but every time their return was postponed due to some problem or the other.
Ultimately, NASA had planned a mission for February 2025 to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. However, now this mission has also been postponed for a month. According to the update given by NASA, both of them will not be able to return before March 2025. In such a situation, let us know when both the astronauts left for space? Is Sunita Williams really stuck in space? Why is NASA not able to bring them back?
Sunita Williams reached ISS on June 6
Sunita Williams and her co-passenger Butch Wilmore have been stuck in space for the last 6 months. Both are currently on the International Space Station (ISS). Both astronauts went into space on June 5 aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which reached the space station on June 6. Both the astronauts were to return in 8 days, during which the Starliner developed a technical problem, after which the Starliner returned to Earth without the crew. Starliner returned successfully on 6 September. In this regard, NASA had said that it was quite risky to bring back both the passengers with the Starliner.
NASA prepared the next mission
NASA prepared the next mission for the return of Sunita Williams and Wilmore after Boeing’s Starliner returned to Earth. Under this, SpaceX Crew-9 was launched on 24 September. Under this mission, NASA had sent only two astronauts into space instead of four. Two seats in the spacecraft were kept vacant so that Williams and Wilmore could return to Earth during the return flight in February.
Why was the mission postponed now?
Now NASA has said that Crew-10, which was to be sent into space in place of Crew-9, will not be launched before March 2025. NASA has said that the first set of crew needs to be launched before the stranded astronauts can be brought back, so the next mission has been postponed by a month. Let us tell you, NASA sends a set of astronauts to the International Space Station every 6 months. Under this, Crew-10 will replace Crew-9 in the space station.
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