NASA Makes Decision to Bring Home Astronauts Who Have Been Stuck in Space for 80 Days

Mar. 15, 2025

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in 2024.Photo:Joe Raedle/Getty

Butch Wilmore and Pilot Suni Williams walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building on June 05, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Joe Raedle/Getty

NASA has decided when to bring home astronautsSunita “Suni” WilliamsandBarry “Butch” Wilmore, who have been stuck in space for 80 days.

The agencyannounced on Saturday, Aug. 24, that after weighing the safety of their vehicles available, NASA concluded that a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule would be able to be used to bring Williams and Wilmore home, with an earliest return date of February 2025.

The Starliner vehicle, which launched Williams, 58, and Wilmore, 61, to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s Space Coast on June 5, experienced helium leaks and thrusters that weren’t functioning amid their trip into space.

The mechanical issuesinitially seemed minor, andBoeingstated that they wouldn’t affect the astronauts' coming home on time.

However,NASA revealed days laterthat the aircraft would potentially not be safe for their trip back to Earth, and the organizationbegan brainstorming.

Starliner launched on June 5.Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket topped with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner launches with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the Crew Flight Test mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41

Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“We have had mistakes done in the past: We lost two space shuttles as a result of there not being a culture in which information could come forward,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at a news conference on Saturday.

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Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (R) and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to board the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test launch , on June 5, 2024.

MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty

Amid Starliner’s technical issues in July,Williams and Wilmore spoke about spending time on the ISS.

Williams expressed confidence in NASA, saying she has “a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem.”

Wilmore, meanwhile, shared the same sentiment. “That mantra you’ve heard, failure is not an option. And that’s why we’re staying here now,” he said.

source: people.com

NASA Makes Decision to Bring Home Astronauts Who Have Been Stuck in Space for 80 Days

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