By MARCIA DUNN
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s two caught astronauts simply obtained their house mission prolonged once more. Meaning they gained’t be again on Earth till spring, 10 months after rocketing into orbit on Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
NASA introduced the newest delay in Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ homecoming on Tuesday.
The 2 check pilots deliberate on being away only a week or so once they blasted off June 5 on Boeing’s first astronaut flight to the Worldwide House Station. Their mission grew from eight days to eight months after NASA determined to ship the corporate’s problem-plagued Starliner capsule again empty in September.
Now the pair gained’t return till the top of March and even April due to a delay in launching their replacements, based on NASA.
A contemporary crew must launch earlier than Wilmore and Williams can return and the subsequent mission has been bumped greater than a month, based on the house company.
NASA’s subsequent crew of 4 was imagined to launch in February, adopted by Wilmore and Williams’ return dwelling by the top of that month alongside two different astronauts. However SpaceX wants extra time to arrange the model new capsule for liftoff. That launch is now scheduled for no sooner than late March.
NASA stated it thought-about utilizing a special SpaceX capsule to fly up the alternative crew so as to preserve the flights on schedule. But it surely determined the most suitable choice was to attend for the brand new capsule to move the subsequent crew.
NASA prefers to have overlapping crews on the house station for a smoother transition, based on officers.
Most house station missions final six months, with just a few reaching a full yr.
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