On Tuesday, NASA announced that it is considering an earlier return for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since participating in Boeing Starliner’s inaugural crewed test flight. Initially slated for a later departure, the astronauts have now extended their stay on the ISS for several months longer than initially planned.
NASA indicated that the adjustment to their return schedule was made possible by a strategic decision to swap out the spacecraft designated for its upcoming Crew-10 mission. The agency will now utilize a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, which is scheduled to launch as soon as March 12, pending readiness for the mission. This revised timetable suggests that Williams and Wilmore could return to Earth several days earlier than the late March timeframe originally targeted by NASA for their homebound journey. The change reflects NASA’s ongoing efforts to optimize the usage of available spacecraft and ensure timely crew rotations aboard the ISS.
