NASA has announced that astronauts Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams will remain on the International Space Station (ISS) longer than planned due to a delay in the SpaceX Crew-10 mission. The astronauts were left stranded after their original Boeing Starliner capsule returned to Earth without them following safety concerns.
The Crew-10 mission, which was initially scheduled for February 2025, is now expected to launch no earlier than March 2025. The delay allows additional time for final testing and integration of the new spacecraft. Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, stated, "Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail."
Once Crew-10 arrives at the ISS, it will bring back NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. These crew members are part of the Crew-9 mission.