Nasa delays rescue mission once more: Sunita Williams to remain on ISS till March – Instances of India

Astronaut Sunita Williams and her colleague, astronaut Butch Wilmore, who travelled to the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) in June, must keep longer in house as a consequence of technical points with Boeing’s Starliner and delays within the subsequent crew launch.
The astronauts who went on June 5, 2024, had been initially set to return in February 2025, however Nasa introduced on Tuesday that they may stay aboard till at the very least late March.
The duo went to the ISS on Boeing’s Starliner for what was meant to be an 8-day mission. However issues with the Starliner, like helium leaks and weak thrusters, compelled Nasa to ship it again to Earth empty in September. The astronauts stayed on the station, persevering with their work whereas Nasa adjusted its plans.
The delay is because of preparations for a brand new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, with Nasa and SpaceX selecting to prioritise security over pace. “Fabrication, meeting, testing, and closing integration of a brand new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavour that requires nice consideration to element,” Steve Stich, head of Nasa’s Industrial Crew Program, was quoted as saying to CBS Information.
The Crew-9 mission, which included Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, was launched to the ISS on September 30 to switch Williams and Wilmore. Nevertheless, the efforts to carry the duo again failed as a result of hazards of Hurricane Helene, together with different technical points.
Missions on the ISS often final six months, however Wilmore and Williams will spend about ten months in house as a result of delay.
The subsequent crew, Crew-10, is predicted to launch in late March on the brand new SpaceX capsule. It is going to embrace Nasa astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. As soon as they arrive, there will likely be a “handover interval,” the place Wilmore, Williams, and their teammates, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, are set to transient the brand new crew on station operations.