Bad News For Sunita Williams! NASA Announces Another Delay In Return

Indian-origin American astronaut Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore have been stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) for over six months

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Their rescue mission has now hit another snag as the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) announced another delay in their return flight

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Williams was initially part of a mission that was supposed to last only eight days, but technical issues with their spacecraft forced them to an extended stay at the ISS

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During the approach to the ISS, five of the 28 thrusters of the Starliner spacecraft failed, delaying their return till February 2025

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Williams and Wilmore were set to return to the Earth on SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon capsule, which was scheduled to arrive in February 2025

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NASA said on Tuesday that Crew-10, which would relieve Crew-9 and the stranded pair, would now launch no earlier than March 2025

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“The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission,” NASA said in a blog post

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This means that Williams and Wilmore would spend close to ten months in space, rather than the eight days as initially planned

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Meanwhile, concerns have increased over Sunita Williams’ health due to her prolonged stay in space and the images released earlier this year showed a drastic weight loss

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The Indian-origin astronaut was last seen preparing for Christmas in space after a festive photo of her with colleague Don Pettit donning Santa hats was shared

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