NASA and SpaceX Switched Capsule To Bring Starliner Astronauts Back Home
NASA has switched the astronaut capsule for its next Crew-10 mission, pushing the launch date to March 12. This action allows astronauts Wilmore and Williams to return home as early as possible after spending longer than expected on the ISS owing to Boeing's malfunctioning Starliner capsule.
NASA and SpaceX Switched Capsule To Bring Starliner Astronauts Back Home
On Tuesday, NASA replaced the astronaut capsule intended for the upcoming routine flight to the ISS, enabling the slightly earlier return of two Starliner astronauts who have been aboard the station longer than anticipated.
The U.S. space agency announced that mission management teams decided to utilize a previously flown SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for its Crew-10 mission to the space station instead of a new SpaceX capsule, as its production has encountered delays.
This change advances the Crew-10 launch to March 12, shifting it from the earlier planned date of March 25. NASA mentioned that it would still require a flight readiness assessment of the previously used Crew Dragon capsule, named Endeavor, which has participated in three prior missions.
The privately arranged flight by the Houston-based company Axiom Space, which includes astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India, has been postponed and will launch later to the space station, likely still this spring.
NASA prefers to have a new crew arrive before sending the old one back in this situation involving Butch Wilmore, Sunita Williams, and two others who have been there since September. The incoming crew consists of two NASA astronauts, one from Japan and one from Russia.
NASA’s latest change in plans comes two weeks after the space agency said it was working “expeditiously” to bring back Wilmore and Williams as soon as possible. Just a day earlier, President Donald Trump and SpaceX’s Elon Musk had vowed to accelerate the astronauts’ return.
