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SpaceX mission delay postpones astronauts' return from ISS
Two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for over nine months, face a further delay in returning to Earth after the launch of their replacement crew was postponed. The NASA-SpaceX Crew-10 mission was scheduled to launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, but a technical issue with the hydraulic system led to the scrubbed launch. While the rocket and spacecraft were fine, the issue was with the ground side system. The next available launch window is Thursday, with a backup opportunity on Friday.
Wilmore and Williams had been expected to return earlier, but their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced propulsion issues, and the mission was deemed unfit for their return. Initially, their mission was supposed to last eight days, but after Crew-9's astronauts arrived aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in September, Wilmore and Williams were reassigned to the Crew-9 mission. As a result, Crew-9's spacecraft, which currently docks at the ISS, cannot return to Earth until Crew-10 arrives.
Wilmore and Williams had prepared for an extended stay on the ISS, despite the original plan for a shorter mission. Crew-9 was scheduled to depart on Sunday, weather permitting, but it remains unclear whether this timeline is still feasible. Along with Wilmore and Williams, astronauts Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will also return on the Crew-10 Dragon capsule.
The prolonged mission has sparked political debates, with former President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accusing President Joe Biden’s administration of abandoning the astronauts. Musk claimed to have offered a "rescue" mission outside the standard crew rotation, though specifics were not provided. Despite political tensions, the astronauts are still set to return as originally planned, with no changes to the mission’s schedule.
The new Crew-10 team includes NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. McClain, the mission’s commander, will be making her second trip to space. The mission will involve conducting a variety of scientific experiments, such as flammability tests for future spacecraft designs and research on the effects of space on the human body.
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