Boarded Boeing Test Flight for an 8-Day Journey
Remained at the International Space Station Due to Spacecraft Malfunction
Two astronauts who boarded Boeing's space capsule 'Starliner' to head to the International Space Station (ISS) but were unexpectedly stranded for over nine months due to unforeseen issues are finally returning to Earth.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams of NASA, who boarded the Starliner for its first crewed test flight last June, originally planned to stay for about a week. However, after arriving at the ISS, a helium leak and thruster malfunction were discovered on the spacecraft, causing their return schedule to be repeatedly postponed.
Ultimately, NASA decided to ensure the astronauts' safety by having them return using SpaceX's Dragon capsule instead of the Starliner, and they joined the Crew-9 team to carry out additional missions at the ISS.
They are scheduled to hand over duties to the newly arrived Crew-10 team at the ISS on the 19th, then return to Earth aboard the Dragon capsule along with two Crew-9 members.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been staying on the International Space Station (ISS) for about nine months. NASA·AP
The Crew-10 team was launched on the 14th (local time) from Florida's Kennedy Space Center aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The initial attempt on the 12th was canceled due to a ground launch system issue, but the launch on this day was successful as scheduled.
If the Dragon capsule flies as planned, it is expected to arrive at the ISS on the afternoon of the 15th. Afterward, the Crew-9 team will prepare to return to Earth.
NASA has maintained that Wilmore and Williams were sent to the ISS with the possibility of a long-term stay in mind, and that the Crew-9 team could only return after the arrival of the Crew-10 team.
However, after Donald Trump was elected president last November, he blamed the Biden administration's policy failures for the delay in Wilmore and Williams' return, dragging NASA into political controversy.
Elon Musk, a close associate of President Trump, claimed on his social media platform X that "the Biden administration politically rejected proposals to bring them back earlier," but NASA rebutted, stating, "We have never received such proposals."
NASA also explained that conducting a separate return mission solely for the two astronauts would require additional launches of SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket, incurring billions of won in extra costs, making it practically impossible.
Wilmore and Williams themselves have stated in media interviews that staying long-term at the ISS is not a problem.
Meanwhile, the Crew-10 team heading to the ISS consists of NASA's Anne McClain and Nicole Aunapu Mann, Japan's JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russia's Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
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