NASA delays return of Starliner astronauts from space station

Space Daily ^ | Jun 14, 2024 | Ehren Wynder

[Salman]

Starliner's return to Earth is now delayed to June 22 or later, NASA announced Friday.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who embarked on the long-awaited Boeing Starliner mission June 5 and docked at the International Space Station the following day, will have to spend a little more time in orbit than originally planned.

Both astronauts were originally set to complete a full assessment of the Starliner on board the ISS in just under a week, but the mission was lengthened due to a need to collect more information about the spacecraft.

"We are continuing to understand the capabilities of Starliner to prepare for the long-term goal of having it perform a six-month docked mission at the space station," NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said in a blog post.

This is the second delay in Starliner's return to Earth, following an announcement this week that the spacecraft would disembark from the ISS on June 18.

The return mission originally was pushed forward to give ISS astronauts more time to perform a space walk originally planned for Thursday 13, but that mission was scrubbed an hour before it started because of what astronauts said was "spacesuit discomfort."

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[Captain Compassion]

There are currently three crew capsules docked at the space station. Boeing Starliner, Soyuz MS-25 and SpaceX Dragon Endeavour. There are 2 also two cargo capsules.