Two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will stay on the International Space Station (ISS) longer than expected due to technical issues. The original eight-day mission has been extended to over nine months.
NASA announced that the ISS is well-stocked with supplies, including food, water, and oxygen, after two resupply flights arrived in November. However, a series of technical problems, including failed reaction control thrusters during a test by Boeing’s Starliner, have delayed the astronauts’ return home.
The new Dragon spacecraft for Crew-10 is now expected to arrive at NASA’s processing facility in Florida in early January. This delay gives the agency time to complete processing on the new spacecraft.
“We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet,” said Steve Stich, director of NASA’s commercial crew program. “Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/18/nasa-astronauts-stuck-in-space