NASA officials announced Saturday that the troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft that carried two astronauts into space in June will return to Earth without them.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are stuck in space after engineers discovered helium leaks and propeller problems shortly after it docked with the International Space Station, prompting NASA and Boeing to investigate.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were the flight crew on Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is recovering from a series of problems. (NASA)
The pair originally blasted off from Florida’s Space Coast on a test flight mission that was originally expected to last a week.
They will now return with a SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which likely won’t happen until September, as that mission will have to reduce its crew of four to two to make room for the stranded astronauts, who are expected to return in February 2025 .