Cape Canaveral, Florida – Two NASA astronauts will have to extend their space mission again. This means they won’t return to Earth until spring, 10 months after being sent into Earth orbit in Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
NASA announced on Tuesday a new delay in the return of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
The two test pilots planned to be gone only a week or so when they took off June 5 on Boeing’s first astronaut flight to the International Space Station. Its mission was extended from eight days to eight months after NASA decided to bring back the troubled uncrewed Starliner capsule in September.
Now, the astronauts won’t return until late March or even April, due to a delay in the launch of their replacements, according to NASA.
New equipment needs to be launched before Wilmore and Williams can return, and the next mission has been postponed by more than a month, according to the space agency.
NASA’s next four-member crew was scheduled to lift off in February, followed by Wilmore and Williams’ return home later that month along with two other astronauts. But SpaceX needs more time to prepare the new capsule for takeoff. That release is now scheduled for no earlier than the end of March.
NASA said it considered using a different SpaceX capsule to carry the replacement team in order to keep flights on schedule. But he decided the best option was to wait for the new capsule to transport the next team.
NASA prefers to have overlapping equipment on the space station for a less complicated transition, according to officials.
Most missions to the space station last six months, but some have reached a full year.