NASA astronaut Nick Hauge and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov from space agency Roscosmos will launch to the international space station on SpaceX’s Crew-9 rescue mission on September 26th at 2:05 p.m. (EDT). However, two other NASA astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, mission specialists who were supposed to be aboard the flight, will be left behind.
The two specialists were cut from the mission to make room for two NASA astronauts who are currently stuck on the International Space Station. In other words, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two NASA astronauts, are trying to hitch a ride back home from space. SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission has effectively become a Star Wars-like rescue mission and will be launching this Thursday.
Two astronauts will have spent almost eight months stuck in space
Space agencies have established that Wilmore and Williams will have an extended stay in space until February 2025, when the flight back home with Hague and Gorbunov finally departs.
Hence, the two astronauts are due to spend almost eight months in space, whereas, formerly, they had been scheduled to stay only ten days. But why is this?
On June 5, 2024, astronauts Wilmore and Williams launched the first Boeing Starliner spacecraft mission, but the capsule malfunctioned. The issue was quite serious, affecting five out of the ship’s twenty-eight reaction control thrusters. This malfunction caused various helium leaks in the spaceship’s propulsion system.
Spacecraft’s malfunctions deemed unsafe by NASA, leaving astronauts stuck in space until rescue mission
The malfunctioning of the capsule’s reaction control thrusters and subsequent helium leaks caused NASA to shift focus. Experts spent several weeks investigating the issues and conducting tests using the spacecraft’s hardware at their White Sands Test Facility in the New Mexico desert.
The astronauts themselves performed several tests on the Starliner as it was docked at the ISS to produce as much data as possible for review back on Earth. The purpose was to determine whether or not it was safe to fly back home on it. It was in fact ascertained that it was not.
Ken Bowersox, an associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said during a briefing, “Our big concern is having a successful deorbit burn, making sure that the propellant system works just the way it needs to, all the way through the deorbit burn.”
After ten days of tests, NASA determined the better option was bringing the Starliner back home without its crew, leaving Williams and Wilmore stuck in space until SpaceX’s Crew-9 arrives at the ISS in February.