Posted on 02/12/2025 6:38:15 PM PST by SeekAndFind
NASA said Tuesday they have revised their strategy in order to expedite the homecoming of two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS), the space agency said on Feb. 11.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the space station for eight months, are now slated to return to Earth in mid-March—two weeks earlier than the previously anticipated late March or April timeframe, according to NASA.
The change in plans involves SpaceX altering its capsule assignments for upcoming missions.
“Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said in a statement released by the agency.
The extended stay of Williams and Wilmore stems from a series of setbacks that began in June 2024. Initially, the pair was scheduled to return after a brief June 5 test flight aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
However, the Starliner experienced major issues during the flight, including helium leaks and problems with its reaction control thrusters, as it approached the ISS.
The issues led to NASA’s decision to return the Starliner to Earth without crew members, leaving Williams and Wilmore safe but stranded on the ISS.
“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated at the time.
The situation was further complicated when SpaceX and NASA said they would delay the launch of the replacement astronaut crew to late March 2025 due to necessary preparations for flight of a new capsule, which would have extended Williams and Wilmore’s mission even further without the revisions now in place.
With additional work still needed on the new capsule, NASA has now opted for an older SpaceX capsule for the next crew launch, to bring Williams and Wilmore home earlier, weather permitting on March 12. This capsule had previously been assigned to a private mission organized by Axiom Space, featuring astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India. As a result of NASA’s decision, the Axiom mission has been postponed to a later date, potentially still within the spring season.
Returning with Williams and Wilmore are NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who were selected to join the pair on the ISS in September 2024, where they have been preparing for their return mission together.
The replacement crew to take over duties at the ISS after a week-long handover period will include two NASA astronauts, as well as one astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and one Roscosmos cosmonaut.
This latest adjustment comes just two weeks after NASA announced it was working “expeditiously” to bring Williams and Wilmore back as soon as possible. The announcement followed a request by President Donald Trump for SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to speed up the astronauts’ return.
That’s nice.
Exactly WHAT was the purpose of sending the two up there.
Did they successfully complete their mission?
How has “Science” been advanced?
What have they done up there lately?
In the last 6 mo., what has been accomplished at the ISS?
Yes, Thirty times.
They’ll have to rehab for a while, they’ll be weak as kittens having spent so much time in low g
Early on, Suni lost a shocking amount of her body weight and they were working to put it back on. Can’t imagine trying to eat extra ovaltine/nutrient type vitamin/mineral drinks (gah!).
On the upside, they gave her, at one point, mission commander responsibilities.
“mission commander responsibilities.”
Any sensibilities addressing measurable objectives in there?
She’s suffering from fecal incontinence. Yuck.
“Will they ever return, will they ever return?
Sounds like an old folk song about an MTA subway train in Boston.....
Jus’ sayin.
I don’t like the sound of that.
In the News/Activism forum, on a thread titled SpaceX To Switch Capsules To Bring 2 Stranded Astronauts Back To Earth Sooner, Paladin2 wrote: “mission commander responsibilities.”
Any sensibilities addressing measurable objectives in there?
Possibly keeping a crew member alive? :)
During the Vietnam war the prisoners struggled to stay out of the kind of despair that can lead to death from illnesses or injuries otherwise survivable. So, they would identify their senior soldier/officer, he would direct the men by giving them tasks to perform. They were, for example, assigned to confiscate a piece of thread, a paper clip etc. for a cache of items that may serve as resources. By giving people responsibilities, they were better able to 'hold on' psychologically. Suni's weight loss may be due to her psychological response, whether consciously or not, to her unplanned stay (felt trapped); she had no responsibilities on the station. They shouldn't just leave her without duties. Giving her that role provided her with new tasks and a challenging role to learn; good move.
They can expect life long health issues from their extended stay.
I recall one of them already has complications from it.
I bet they are doin it
Did they recruit Marvin the Martian?
It’s not a look, more a smell kinda thing. Poor lady stuck in a large phone booth orbiting earth with a a few dudes while she $hits herself slowly and continuously.
“However, the Starliner experienced major issues during the flight, including helium leaks and problems with its reaction control thrusters, as it approached the ISS.”
Translation: It was a piece of Sh-t that was launched with known helium leaks and then more and would be a danger to astronauts if used to take then home. That decision was not made lightly even though the unmanned capsule did return safely. NASA was in total fear if it went wrong.
Musk will bring them home shortly.
Looks like my old apartment.
Any takers on the next overnight flight into space?
Sign right up!
We leave no man behind, eventually! You might be a bubbling bowl of liquid by retirn time, but we got your back!
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