Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore Return Delayed Again

Those waiting for the return journey of Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore on March 16, 2025 will be disappointed as the stay of the two stranded astronauts in space has been extended again

Washington: Those waiting for the return journey of Sunita Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore on March 16, 2025 will be disappointed as the stay of the two stranded astronauts in space has been extended again.

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are currently stuck onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

The two had embarked to space onboard Starliner spacecraft on June 05, 2024. As per the original schedule, their return journey to Earth was on June 14, 2024. They however got stuck in the space due to some technical reasons, completing six-month stay in space in December last, and around nine months now.

ISS Rescue Mission

NASA had on March 10, 2025 announced that the two stranded astronauts would return to Earth on March 16, 2025, saying the U.S. space agency has cleared a relief crew to launch on SpaceX Dragon, its Crew-10 mission, next week for their return.

The Crew-10 mission launch has been delayed due to some technical glitches.

"The launch was called off due to a technical issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket", NASA said.

The American space agency further said that the next available launch is not possible before Saturday March 15, pending a review of the issue.

"If the Crew-10 mission launches successfully on Saturday, Williams and Wilmore are expected to depart the ISS after March 20", NASA said.

"Stuck Astronauts"

NASA had earlier reported that Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore - known as the stuck astronauts, will return to Earth in February 2025.

NASA however again changed their return journey saying the duo will have to remain in space for another month and could return to Earth only in March 2025.

Earlier, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov were launched on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission with two seats aboard their Dragon spacecraft reserved for the stranded astronauts. The Starliner spacecraft returned without a crew in September last year. Now all four will return to Earth possibly on March 20, 2025.

The Crew-10 mission will take a new team of astronauts to the ISS, including NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Jaxa's Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos's Kirill Peskov.

The case of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had earlier also sparked a political debate after SpaceX chief Elon Musk accused former U.S. President Joe Biden of deliberately delaying the return journey of the two astronauts.

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