For many people, being stuck in an enclosed space for a long period of time might be their biggest nightmare. But for astronauts, that is part of the job. It seems like these astronauts have had an even harder time than usual.
Keep reading to know more about what this means.
Two astronauts have been stranded in space for over 60 days, and it seems like they may have to keep orbiting the Earth until early 2025. Their Boeing spacecraft is unable to bring them back home.
NASA has now said that Butch Wilmore and Suni William, who are the two astronauts on board the spacecraft, might need to be rescued from the International Space Station by a spacecraft from Boeing’s rival company, Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Butch Wilmore and Suni William were aboard the Boeing Starline spacecraft to the ISS. Their maiden voyage which was in June has been quite disastrous. They had helium leaks and also had thruster failures which has prevented from taking their spaceship back to Earth.
While the two astronauts aboard the spacecraft were only supposed to be at the ISS for one week it seems like they will be there for quite a while, possibly till early next year.
NASA says the astronauts will have to come back with the SpaceX Dragon Crew-9 mission. However, that mission will not launch until September this year, and will not be back until February next year.
The plan for their rescue is still not confirmed. There are a lot of parties involved in the process of their rescue, and a Boeing crew has to hitch a ride back to Earth from SpaceX could prove to be very embarrassing for Boeing.
While they await their rescue, Butch and Suni are on the ISS as they help other astronauts with their tasks.
Their rescue however, needs to be soon, as the ISS has limited resources and supplies and this might be putting a strain on them.
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We are sending our best wishes to these astronauts as they await their rescue. Share this with others so they can also rally behind these astronauts and hope for their safe return to earth.
