NASA has done it again postponed the return to Earth of Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, astronauts who were stranded on the International Space Station after Boeing’s Starliner capsule failed midway this year.
The spacecraft crew arrived at the ISS in June. The goal was to test Starliner’s comprehensive capabilities, including launch, docking and reentry systems. The mission was to last a week. Five of the capsule’s 28 engines failed before docking with the ISS. Boeing claimed its technology could guarantee the safe and sound return of astronauts. NASA, however, expressed doubts and concluded that the risks were too high. The agency entrusted this task to SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s company launched the Crew-9 mission in September, the goal of which, among other things, is the return of Williams and Wilmore. Until now, stranded astronauts were supposed to plan for it back in February aboard the Crew Dragon rocket. However, NASA said that it expects the expedition to return to the Earth’s surface after the arrival of the Crew-10 spacecraft, which will be sent at the end of March 2025 at the earliest.
The adjustment will allow SpaceX and NASA engineers to finalize work on the recent Dragon spacecraft, which will be shipped to the company’s Florida factory early next month.
“Manufacturing, assembly, testing and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking undertaking that requires great attention to detail,” Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard work of the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet to support our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to achieve flight readiness of the new capsule.”
NASA said the Crew-9 and Crew-10 crews must complete a “handover period” during which ISS residents share experiences and knowledge with recent arrivals. This process ensures the proper conduct of on-board scientific experiments and the maintenance of the orbital complicated.
Specialists from NASA and SpaceX evaluated several options for coordinating the next crewed delivery. They determined that a March Crew-10 launch was “the best option to meet NASA requirements and achieve space station goals for 2025,” according to an agency press release.
Long distance
In November, the ISS received two resupply flights, ensuring crew members had enough food, water, clothing and oxygen. However, some experts warn of potential health risks for Wilmore and Williams after spending more than nine months in space.
The scientific community has been studying the effects of spaceflight on the human body since the 1970s. In the years since the first moon landing defined the conditions such as bone loss, decreased heart function, vision problems and the development of kidney stones.
A recent study conducted at University College London discovers that kidney structure and function can also be permanently damaged, although this is particularly aggressive for astronauts who stray too far from Earth, which is not the case with the ISS.
NASA points out that crews of ISS expeditions usually have longer stays, lasting an average of six months. He adds that some astronauts have conducted missions lasting up to one year to contribute to research on human adaptation to spaceflight with a view to future exploration of the Moon and Mars.
This story originally appeared on WIRED in Spanish and was translated from Spanish.