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NASA astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Willmore were expected to instrumentality location successful February aft their extended enactment astatine the ISS, but NASA confirmed the 2 volition beryllium successful abstraction longer.
Stranded NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams Reach Major Milestone successful Space
Turns out Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore won't beryllium touching down anytime soon.
The NASA astronauts had originally acceptable disconnected an eight-day mission to the International Space Station successful June, lone to person a leak successful their Boeing Starliner aircraft—related to its propulsion—lead to an 8 period hold successful their return.
And now, instead of coming location successful February 2025 as primitively planned, NASA has confirmed that the 2 aren't expected to instrumentality until March oregon April due to the fact that of a hold successful launching their replacements astatine the ISS, according to NBC News.
The bureau explained that a caller unit needs to motorboat earlier Williams and Wilmore are capable to return, but due to the fact that SpaceX needs much clip to enactment connected the capsule they'll beryllium utilizing for liftoff—and NASA doesn't privation to usage a antithetic capsule—the squad won't beryllium launching until precocious March astatine the earliest.
According to NASA officials, they similar to person overlapping crews astatine the ISS for a smoother transition, and arsenic specified Williams and Willmore's ngo has been extended to 10 months successful space.
Still, the astronauts—who precocious deed a milestone of six months successful space—are making the champion of their extended trip, and even enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal along with chap Americans Don Pettit and Nick Hague and 3 different Russian astronauts besides aboard the ISS.
"We person a clump of nutrient that we've packed distant that is Thanksgiving-ish," Williams, 59, told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt from the ISS during the holiday. "Some smoked turkey, immoderate cranberry, pome cobbler, greenish beans and mushrooms and mashed potatoes."
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The large quality betwixt their space-station feast and 1 connected Earth? All the nutrient was successful dehydrated pouches until acceptable to beryllium consumed.
But, arsenic Williams added, she and Wilmore, 61, are looking for immoderate metallic lining they can.
"We're feeling good, moving out, eating right," she explained. "We person a batch of amusive up here, too. So, you know, radical are disquieted astir us. Really, don't interest astir us."
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