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By Matthew Impelli
Life & Trends Reporter
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What's New
Two astronauts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) received news of a new mission extension on Tuesday, delaying their return to home.
As a result, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams won't return to Earth until spring, 10 months after launching into orbit aboard Boeing's Starliner capsule.
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Why It Matters
Test pilots Wilmore and Williams originally expected to spend about a week in orbit after launching on June 5 as part of Boeing's first astronaut mission to the International Space Station. However, their stay stretched from eight days to eight months after NASA opted to return Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule to Earth without a crew in September.
What To Know
NASA's next crew of four was originally set to launch in February, with Wilmore and Williams returning home by the end of the month alongside two other astronauts. However, SpaceX requires additional time to ready the new capsule for flight, pushing the launch to late March at the earliest.
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NASA considered using a different SpaceX capsule to launch the replacement crew and maintain the original schedule but ultimately decided to wait for the new capsule to carry out the mission. NASA officials say they prefer overlapping crews at the space station to ensure a smoother handover of operations.
Most missions to the space station typically last six months, though some have extended to a full year.
In August, NASA announced that it was bringing the Boeing Starliner ship home without Williams and Wilmore on board.
"The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew," NASA said.
What People Are Saying
In August, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson spoke about bringing the Starliner home without Williams and Wilmore, saying: "Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing's Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star."
"I'm grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work," he said.
What's Next
Wilmore and Williams are now expected to remain in orbit until late March or even April due to delays in launching their replacements, NASA said.
NASA says a new crew must launch before Wilmore and Williams can return, but the next mission has been pushed back by more than a month.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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