The 2 astronauts stuck at the International Space Station because June are inviting their brand-new trip home
ByMARCIA DUNN AP aerospace author
September 29, 2024, 5: 33 PM
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The 2 astronauts stuck at the International Space Station giventhat June invited their brand-new trip home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX pill.
SpaceX released the rescue objective on Saturday with a scaleddown team of 2 astronauts and 2 empty seats booked for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return next year. The Dragon pill docked in darkness as the 2 craft skyrocketed 265 miles (426 kilometers) above Botswana.
NASA changed Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX following issues over the security of their Boeing Starliner pill. It was the veryfirst Starliner test flight with a team, and NASA chose the thruster failures and helium leakages that cropped up after liftoff were too severe and improperly comprehended to threat the test pilots’ return. So Starliner returned to Earth empty previously this month.
The Dragon bring NASA’s Nick Hague and the Russian Space Agency’s Alexander Gorbunov will stay at the area station upuntil February, turning what needto haveactually been a weeklong journey for Wilmore and Williams into a objective enduring more than 8 months.
Two NASA astronauts were pulled from the objective to make space for Wilmore and Williams on the return leg.
“I simply desire to state invite to our brand-new compadres,” Williams, the area station leader, s