'Stranded' NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 58, and Their Families Hit With Grim Update on Delayed Rescue Mission Ahead of Christmas
Two 'stranded' NASA astronauts have had their return mission delayed again.
Dec. 18 2024, Published 8:00 p.m. ET
Two NASA astronauts "stranded" in space and their families have been given grim news on their rescue mission.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Suni Williams will not be returning to Earth in February as planned as their mission has been pushed back once again.
Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, left for their mission in June and were originally expected to be gone for six to eight days. They've been stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) ever since after their Boeing Starliner capsule experienced mechanical problems.
Williams and Wilmore's original mission was planned to last between six and eight days.
Now, they'll likely be in space for close to a year.
While scrambling to figure out what to do with the astronauts, NASA decided to send the Starliner back to Earth without Wilmore and Williams in September.
The pair were supposed to hitch a ride back on SpaceX's new Crew Dragon capsule, which was expected to arrive at the ISS in February. Two astronauts were even bumped from the flight to make room for Wilmore and Williams.
But their plans have been delayed again due to SpaceX needing more time to develop their brand new capsule, pushing the return date to "no earlier than late March 2025", according to NASA's announcement on Tuesday, December 17.
NASA said the astronauts have been busy conducting experiments and working on routine maintenance at the ISS.
NASA said they considered using a different SpaceX capsule to keep with return flight on schedule but ultimately decided to wait on the brand new capsule.
The agency said waiting on the SpaceX capsule is "the best option for meeting NASA’s requirements and achieving space station objectives for 2025".
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said: "Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail.
"We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight."
Wilmore said they're focused on doing 'the very best job' every day they're at the ISS.
Since their mission was first extended, the pair attempted to stay optimistic and focused on work at the ISS as NASA insisted they were not "stranded" in space.
In September, Wilmore said in an interview: "Eight days to eight months or nine months or 10 months, whatever it is, we're going to do the very best job we can do every single day."
The June launch was the first piloted mission for the Starliner. NASA funded the capsule's development as well as the development of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.
Williams and Wilmore will not return 'no earlier than late March 2025'.
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Not only has the Starliner's failure kept the astronauts away for the families for six months and counting, but has sparked backlash and embarrassment for Boeing, which has seen numerous issues with its commercial planes.
While discussing the Starliner debacle, an anonymous Boeing employee confessed: "We have had so many embarrassments lately, we're under a microscope. This just made it, like, 100 times worse.
"We hate SpaceX. We talk s--- about them all the time, and now they're bailing us out."
