NASA says astronauts stuck in space to return Feb 2025 with Elon Musk’s SpaceX

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says two American astronauts who are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) will be brought back to earth in 2025.

The astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, left for the ISS in June for an eight-day mission.

They have since been stuck in space and unable to return after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft developed some faults.

In a major announcement on Saturday, NASA said plans are in place to bring back the astronauts in February next year — in a Dragon spacecraft owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

The Dragon spacecraft has a four-person capacity but will travel to the space station with two people, leaving room for Wilmore and Williams to join them in the return journey to earth at the end of its planned mission in February.

“NASA and SpaceX currently are working several items before launch, including reconfiguring seats on the Crew-9 Dragon, and adjusting the manifest to carry additional cargo, personal effects, and Dragon-specific spacesuits for Wilmore and Williams,” NASA said.

“In addition, NASA and SpaceX now will use new facilities at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to launch Crew-9, which provides increased operational flexibility around NASA’s planned Europa Clipper launch.”

NASA said it has the option of returning the Starliner to earth “crewed or uncrewed” but has decided that the latter is the better line of action.

Starliner is expected to depart from the space station and make a “safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing” in early September.