- SpaceX spacecraft sent to rescue stranded astronauts
- Astronauts stranded due to Boeing capsule malfunction
- Experienced astronauts stuck in space
- Astronauts break new records in space
SpaceX spacecraft sent to rescue stranded astronauts
A SpaceX spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, carrying one US and one Russian astronaut.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday, while two seats on board the Dragon spacecraft of billionaire Elon Musk's private company SpaceX were empty[1].
Astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were originally supposed to be part of the NASA-SpaceX Crew-9 mission, but they gave up their seats to Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, astronauts who are unable to leave the ISS due to a malfunction of the Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft.
Their shift on the space station was supposed to last just one week, but now they, along with Hague and Gorbunov, will have to stay until February 2025 or even longer.
Astronauts stranded due to Boeing capsule malfunction
The Boeing Starliner capsule in which the astronauts arrived at the ISS in June has been declared unfit to return them to Earth.
The capsule's flight had already been delayed for several years due to problems identified during unmanned test flights in 2019 and 2022. However, the flight finally took place, as NASA had retired its spacecraft fleet back in 2011.
The astronauts arrived successfully at the ISS in a Boeing capsule, but could not return. NASA decided that the engine failures and helium leaks that occurred after liftoff were too serious and poorly understood to risk the return of the pilots, so Starliner returned to Earth empty. Starliner is currently undergoing checks at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.
Experienced astronauts stuck in space
Two veteran astronauts are stranded on the ISS: B. Wilmore, 61, and S. Williams, 58, are astronauts, naval officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998 and Wilmore since 2000[2].
Williams is also a true record holder: she has been in open space for 50 hours. In 2007, she even ran the first marathon in space. For his part, Wilmore piloted the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009 and in 2014 he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to produce a tool in space - a ratchet wrench.
The astronauts, stranded in space, say that even though they initially knew their mission would only last eight days, they have both been preparing for it for years and are ready for the challenges. They are also fully prepared to stay in space for a longer period and help pilot the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that will bring them home next year, he said.
This mission was to test the Starliner as a tool that NASA could use for its own trips to space. They had to test different aspects of the Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. While they remain in space for the time being, the astronauts will continue to work with the crew of ISS 71 on research and maintenance work.
Astronauts break new records in space
However, the astronauts currently trapped in space will not set new records. US astronaut Tracy Dyson, who returned to Earth in September, and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who set two records, did this[3].
O. Kononenko and Chub spent 374 days in orbit - the longest time anyone has ever spent on the ISS in a single flight. Both cosmonauts arrived there on 15 September 2023.
Kononenko broke another record during his time in space: as it was his fifth mission, the 60-year-old now holds the record for the most time spent in space. He is the only person to have spent more than 1,000 days in space.
It is noteworthy that despite geopolitical tensions, Russia and the US continue cooperating on the ISS.
