Summary NASA confirms stranded astronauts to return on SpaceX Dragon capsule due to Boeing Starliner issues. Astronauts will have to wait until February 2025 to return home. Special preparations by NASA and SpaceX are underway for the SpaceX Crew-9 mission launch next month.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has just confirmed that the pair of stranded astronauts onboard the International Space Station will return to Earth onboard a SpaceX capsule rather than the Boeing Starliner spacecraft the astronauts flew to space in. However, the astronauts will have to wait for a considerable amount of time as their return is not immediate. SpaceX to the rescue! After a lot of deliberation and months of waiting, nasa has just confirmed that two of their astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, currently stranded onboard the International Space Station (ISS), will be returning back to Earth onboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
The reason for SpaceX getting involved is primarily because the Boeing Starliner spaceship that took the astronauts to space encountered a series of issues during the space-bound flight, which brought into question the ability of the spacecraft to safely bring the astronauts back to Earth. It could be another month before a software fix is delivered, delaying the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. While it is now confirmed that the Astronauts will return onboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule, as reported by NBC News , the Boeing Starliner spacecraft will.