Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, will not return to Earth before March 19, Hindustan Times reports.
The duo, who traveled to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner in June 2024 for what was originally meant to be an eight-day mission, have been stranded due to persistent technical issues with the spacecraft.
NASA’s upcoming crewed mission, SpaceX Crew-10, is now scheduled for a March 14 launch at 7.03 pm EDT from Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
The mission will send four astronauts — NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — to replace Williams and Wilmore at the ISS.
The Crew-10 mission, originally planned for an earlier launch, faced setbacks due to weather conditions along the launch trajectory. High winds and precipitation forced NASA to postpone, while engineers also had to address a hydraulic system issue in the Falcon 9 rocket’s ground support clamp arm at Launch Complex 39A.
NASA now reports that launch conditions are highly favourable, with a greater-than-95% chance of acceptable weather on March 14. However, if the launch is pushed to March 15 or 16, forecasts indicate a 50-60% chance of unsuitable conditions, Hindustan Times notes.
Once Crew-10 reaches the ISS and completes its transition period, Williams and Wilmore will begin preparations for their long-awaited return, now scheduled no earlier than March 19.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, acknowledged the efforts of all teams involved, stating, “I am extremely proud of our NASA and SpaceX ground engineers and joint operations teams in quickly identifying and resolving issues. Their commitment to both excellence and safety is a true testament to the strength of this integrated team.”
