NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (R) and Suni Williams, sporting Boeing spacesuits, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Constructing at Kennedy Area Heart for Launch Complicated 41 at Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Take a look at launch, on June 5, 2024.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | Afp | Getty Pictures
The 2 NASA astronauts who’ve been stuck on the International Space Station since their Boeing spacecraft bumped into issues in June must stay there even longer, the company introduced Tuesday.
NASA has pushed again the subsequent astronaut crew’s launch to the ISS from February to no sooner than late March to permit extra time to “full processing” on a brand new SpaceX spacecraft that shall be used for the mission.
4 crew members aboard the station should await the arrival of the subsequent crew earlier than they will depart on a separate SpaceX Dragon capsule. They embody NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who launched on the challenge-plagued first take a look at flight of Boeing’s Starliner car.
The 2 initially meant to spend a few week on the area station however will wind up having lived and labored in orbit for greater than 9 months, together with the added time for the most recent delay.
New crews sometimes overlap with departing crews for a short while on the ISS in what’s generally known as a handover interval, throughout which astronauts can trade details about ongoing science experiments, upkeep initiatives and different protocols.
When Williams and Wilmore do lastly go away after that handover, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will fly dwelling with them.
Officers mentioned the brand new Dragon capsule anticipated to launch in late March ought to arrive at NASA’s processing facility in Florida in early January.
“Fabrication, meeting, testing, and last integration of a brand new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires nice consideration to element,” Steve Stich, NASA’s Business Crew Program supervisor, said in a statement.
When the capsule launches — a mission generally known as Crew-10 — it’s anticipated to hold NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. Till then, the foursome will proceed coaching for his or her mission at NASA’s Johnson Area Heart in Houston, NASA mentioned.
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