NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), have finally been given a return date following a nine-month mission. They are set to travel back to Earth at the end of this month using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, shortly after their replacements arrive next week. Originally, their return had been scheduled for February 2025, but technical complications necessitated a delay.
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Williams, the mission commander, and Wilmore, the flight engineer, launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in June 2024. The Starliner capsule was initially intended to bring them back within an eight-day timeframe. However, failures in the propulsion system raised concerns over its reliability, prompting NASA to explore alternative solutions.
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In response to these issues, teams from Boeing and NASA carried out extensive testing to analyse the failures, particularly those affecting the spacecraft’s thrusters. These investigations played a crucial role in determining the astronauts’ revised return schedule.
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