WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (KUNA) -- The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that American astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for more than eight months, are scheduled to return to Earth by mid-March.
According to the statement issued by NASA late Tuesday, a mission in collaboration with the American company, SpaceX, is set to launch on March 12 toward the ISS, and the return journey, carrying the two astronauts, is expected to take place a few days later.
Wilmore and Williams were initially scheduled to return in mid-June 2024, however, their return was repeatedly delayed due to technical issues that posed safety concerns for their spacecraft.
In late September, NASA and SpaceX launched a crewed spacecraft to the ISS with the aim of retrieving the two stranded astronauts, and their return was planned for February, but it did not materialize as expected.
In August, NASA had decided to keep the astronauts on the ISS until February due to safety concerns, while opting to return the Starliner spacecraft, an uncrewed vehicle, to Earth instead.
The situation stems from NASA's collaboration with Boeing, which launched a crewed spacecraft to the ISS on June 5, marking Boeing's first successful crewed spaceflight.
The mission was originally designed as a short-term test flight for Wilmore and Williams, expected to last only a few days, however, due to a series of technical complications, their stay in space has extended beyond eight months. (end) asj.dss