Astronauts will be stuck in the ISS for months

Eight days in space turn into eight months: US space agency NASA doesn’t want to bring two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station back to Earth until February.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the ISS since June due to technical problems with Boeing’s Starliner space capsule, will return to Earth in February aboard the SpaceX Dragon space capsule, NASA announced on Saturday.

“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February and Starliner will return unmanned,” said NASA President Bill Nelson.

Four astronauts on the ISS

Starliner has been tethered to the ISS since early June due to problems with its thrusters — the capsule was actually only supposed to stay there for eight days. During the journey to the space station, the capsule had a helium leak. With the problems still unresolved, Wilmore and Williams now return to Earth not in their Boeing capsule as planned, but in Space-X’s Dragon capsule.

There are currently a total of six astronauts on the ISS – four regular space station crew members and two Starliner astronauts. The Dragon capsule actually brought a new four-person crew to the ISS last week Sunday and was supposed to bring back the previous four crew members. The flight has now been postponed to the end of September. SpaceX’s mission “Crew-9” will have only four astronauts so that two Starliner astronauts can take them with them on the return flight in February.

Also a helium leak

The Starliner program has been plagued by technical problems over the years, leaving Boeing behind SpaceX. In 2014, NASA concluded multibillion-dollar contracts with both companies for transportation to the ISS. While SpaceX, the space company founded by tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS since 2020, Boeing only managed the first manned flight to the space station last June — and now the Starliner is stuck.

When the Boeing capsule docked, problems occurred with the thrusters needed for precision maneuvering. A helium leak occurred before the Starliner took off. However, this was considered too small and the initiation still took place. However, further leaks occurred during the flight.

sda/tgab