Stranded in Space: Astronauts on ISS Still Don’t Know When They’ll Return

the NASA It has not yet been decided what to do to bring the two astronauts on Earth back to Earth. International Space StationThey should have returned two months ago. In a worst-case scenario, they could stay until next year.

They’re working with the rest of the team living on the station, in orbit, making sure they’re okay, but a problem with the Boeing capsule that took them into space is preventing their return for now.

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams say they are optimistic and confident about returning soon. For now, they are working with the rest of the International Space Station crew, in orbit in space.

The two astronauts, who left on June 5, were supposed to stay for only a week, but their stay could be extended for eight months if NASA finds no other solution to bring them back.

The Boeing capsule that carried them to the station is facing problems that have not been overcome. A failure of propellant and loss of helium have hampered the capsule’s journey to the space station, raising doubts about its ability to return safely.

If NASA concludes that Boeing can’t solve the Starliner problems, astronauts may have to wait until SpaceX’s spacecraft arrives in February 2025.

There is also the possibility that they will come in another capsule that will leave the space station in September.

But if that’s NASA’s decision, it means two other astronauts, who were supposed to finish the mission in September, will have to stay longer.

Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams are former U.S. Navy pilots. Wilmore has flown three missions aboard the International Space Station.

Williams is a veteran of spaceflights on both American and Russian spacecraft, four expeditions to the International Space Station, and more than 300 days in orbit.