Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore could be stuck in space till February 2025
Wilmore and Williams, who left for space in a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, are likely to spend Christmas and New Year in space
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams on the Starliner mission. Image: X/@NASA
American astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams who are stuck in the International Space Station (ISS) since June 5, may not return to earth this year.
Wilmore and Williams, who left for space in a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, are likely to spend Christmas and New Year in space, a report in BBC said.
They are likely to return to earth only in February 2025.
In a press briefing on Wednesday (August 7), NASA officials said "no firm decisions" were made on the next course of action.
"Our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner," Steve Stich, manager of Nasa's Commercial Crew Program, said, as per the report. "However, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open.”
One of those options is to attach the two astronauts to a SpaceX Crew Dragon that will launch in September and return to earth in February 2025.
Wilmore and Williams had left for ISS on a mission that was to last just eight days but problems emerged in Boeing Starliner. A eight-day mission has now turned into more than eight months.