Sunita Williams Went To Space For 8 Days, But Could Be Stuck Till Feb 2025

What was meant to be a 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) for the NASA astronauts - Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams - to fly with Boeing could extend to eight months.

Sunita Williams

NASA said on Wednesday that astronauts sent to International Space Station by Boeing's Starliner on a 10-day mission could return on one of the options as SpaceX's Crew Dragon in February 2025 if Starliner is still deemed unsafe to return to Earth.

Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore took off aboard the Boeing Starliner in June and have been at the ISS since the sixth of that month. The Starliner has faced glitches in the propulsion system following a series of helium leaks.

NASA is working on several return options including using SpaceX Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon capsule would then be able to return to Earth with Starliner's crew of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in February 2025.

At the ISS in all nine astronauts and all are safe with enough food and supplies. All must return to Earth sooner than later.

Starliner spacecraft launched in June carrying two astronauts to the ISS in a high-stakes test mission required before NASA can certify the spacecraft for routine astronaut flights.

But the mission, initially expected to last about eight days, has been drawn out far longer by an array of problems with the craft's propulsion system that Boeing and NASA have been scrambling to fix.

The US space agency said Ms Williams, who is a veteran and is on her third space mission, meanwhile at the ISS among many other things investigated using fluid physics, such as surface tension, to overcome the lack of gravity when watering and nourishing plants being grown in space.

This is akin to gardening in space and is a very vital step towards understanding how plants grow and respond to microgravity conditions. The research will be crucial when humanity looks to establish various bases in the solar system and beyond.