Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will remain in space until February 2025, according to NASA. The space agency has deemed it “too risky” to bring the astronauts back to Earth at this time, so Boeing’s Starliner capsule will return without them.
Wilmore and Williams will continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025. Instead of returning in what was initially planned as a week-long test flight, their mission will now extend to about 8 months. The astronauts will return to Earth aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Meanwhile, the Starliner capsule is expected to autonomously leave the space station and land safely in early September.
NASA and Boeing will use the uncrewed return of the Starliner to gather additional testing data during its flight back to Earth, avoiding unnecessary risks for the astronauts.
Wilmore and Williams have been at the International Space Station since June, where they have been supporting various station research and maintenance activities, along with testing and analyzing the Starliner systems.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized that spaceflight is inherently risky, especially test flights. The decision to keep the astronauts on the ISS and bring the Starliner back uncrewed reflects NASA’s commitment to safety, which is its top priority.
Earlier in June, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters as the Starliner approached the space station. Since then, engineering teams have conducted extensive work, including data reviews, flight and ground testing, and independent reviews. However, due to uncertainties and a lack of expert consensus, NASA decided that the safest course of action was to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission.
