Two astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station aboard Boeing's troubled Starliner more than six months ago will not return to Earth until at least March 2025, NASA announced Tuesday.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams traveled to the space station aboard the Starliner back in June. Their trip was initially only to last about eight to 10 days, but multiple issues with the Starliner prompted a concerned NASA, out of caution, to leave them behind at the space station and return the capsule to Earth empty in September.
That same month, a SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule with a reduced two-person crew and two empty seats launched to the space station with the intention of returning Wilmore and Williams aboard it in February 2025.
However, NASA said in a news release Tuesday that Wilmore and Williams' replacements, traveling aboard the SpaceX Crew-10, would be launching to the space station "no earlier than late March 2025," meaning that would be the earliest that Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth.