Two NASA astronauts, Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, may be forced to stay on the International Space Station until February 2025 due to safety concerns with the spacecraft that brought them into orbit. The pair arrived at the ISS in June to test Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but issues with the capsule have grounded them indefinitely. NASA is considering bringing them back on a SpaceX flight instead, which could impact the agency’s next SpaceX taxi flight in September. Boeing is working to modify Starliner’s software in case it has to return without a crew, while SpaceX has successfully flown NASA crews to the ISS in the past.
