Two astronauts stranded in space for more than 60 days may have to remain in orbit until early 2025… because their Boeing spacecraft appears unable to take them home.
says NASA now Butch Wilmore And Suni Williams may have to be rescued from the International Space Station by a rival company’s spacecraft… Elon Muskfrom SpaceX.
The pair took a Boeing Starline spacecraft to the ISS in June, but the… first trip has been a disaster… with helium leaks and thruster failures preventing them from taking the spaceship home.
Butch and Suni were only supposed to be on the ISS for a week… but it’s looking increasingly likely that they’ll be there until sometime next year.
NASA says the astronauts may have to return on the SpaceX Dragon Crew-9 mission…the spacecraft won’t launch until September and won’t be able to bring Butch and Suni home until February.
This new plan isn’t set in stone yet…there are a lot of parties involved here, and a Boeing crew coming back on a SpaceX mission would be a huge embarrassment for Boeing.
For now, Butch and Suni will remain on the ISS… helping other astronauts with tasks.
However, the clock is ticking as they put additional pressure on ISS supplies.
