NASA and international space agency announcements regarding mission dockings

NASA Delays Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams' Return from ISS to Late March 2025 for Crew-10 Mission

Dec 18, 2024, 12:05 AM

NASA has announced a delay in the return of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station (ISS), extending their mission until at least late March 2025. The delay is due to the need for additional time to complete processing on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is set to arrive at NASA's processing facility in Florida in early January. The astronauts, who were originally scheduled to spend about a week in space, have been on the ISS since June due to safety issues with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft. The new Dragon spacecraft will be used for the Crew-10 mission, which will launch four new crew members to the ISS, including NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi. After the arrival of Crew-10, Wilmore and Williams, along with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will return to Earth. This extended stay will result in the astronauts spending nearly 9 months in space, following their initial mission with the Crew-9.