CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s two astronauts who have been stranded in space may return to Earth earlier than initially scheduled.
On Tuesday, NASA revealed that SpaceX will be swapping out the capsules being used for future astronaut missions. This change will allow Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to come back in mid-March rather than the previously anticipated late March or April timeline. This adjustment will reduce their extended stay at the International Space Station (ISS), which recently surpassed the eight-month mark.
Steve Stich, the head of NASA’s commercial crew program, acknowledged the unpredictable nature of human spaceflight in a statement.
Wilmore and Williams were expected to return in June aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, following what should have been a brief weeklong test flight. However, due to numerous issues with the capsule’s connection to the space station, NASA decided to bring it back empty and reassigned the astronauts to SpaceX’s crew.
Further complicating their situation, the launch of the astronauts’ replacements on a new SpaceX capsule faced delays due to necessary preparations, extending Wilmore and Williams’ time in orbit.
In light of the ongoing work needed for the new capsule, NASA decided to send the next crew using an older capsule, with the launch now scheduled for March 12. This older vehicle was originally designated for a private mission this spring, organized by Axiom Space based in Houston, which includes astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India; their flight will be postponed until a later date in the season.
To ensure a smooth transition, NASA prefers to have the new crew on board the ISS prior to returning the current team, which has included Wilmore, Williams, and two others since September. The incoming team consists of two NASA astronauts along with one each from Japan and Russia.
This recent decision comes just two weeks after NASA expressed urgency in retrieving Wilmore and Williams as soon as it was feasible. On the day before the announcement, President Donald Trump and SpaceX’s Elon Musk had both committed to accelerating the astronauts’ return plans.
