Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore likely had no idea that their eight-day stay at the ISS would extend into months when they started their mission in June 2024.
They went to space in a Boeing spacecraft that had helium leaks and other mechanical problems. The two astronauts were consequently compelled to remain in orbit. Their potential return home mission has already been postponed multiple times. NASA now anticipates their return home sometime in March.
The American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams were stranded in space for nearly eight months.
In June 2024, they took Boeing’s “Starliner” to the International Space Station and were originally scheduled to carry out an 8-day mission. pic.twitter.com/F1exWXPy3n
— Missing chole (@CholeMissing) February 12, 2025
The Crew-10 mission will be used to transport Williams and Wilmore.
President Donald Trump urged Elon Musk and SpaceX to “go get them” after accusing Biden’s administration of deserting the two astronauts.
“Elon will arrive shortly. “Hopefully everything will be safe,” Trump remarked. “Elon, good luck!”
Musk responded on X by saying he would.
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, however, disputes the media’s portrayal of the astronauts as stranded. He emphasizes that “it’s way overblown,” stating that “the party line at NASA is that the astronauts are not stranded.”
“They’re all right,” McDowell says. They simply had the opportunity to perform an additional spacewalk, which they adore. They’ll take the next ride home.
NASA says Williams and Wilmore are in a positive mood despite being in an uncontrollable circumstance, and they assure the public that their basic requirements, including as clothing and food, are being met.
“Working up here has been a pleasure,” Williams stated during a call.
“We don’t feel like we’ve been abandoned. We have a lot to do while we’re up here, but eventually we want to return home because we left our families a while ago.
Actually, while in space, the astronauts are performing a number of normal tasks, including spacewalks and experiments.
Naturally, the public and media questioned how much they would be compensated for their excessively extended stay.
But the response isn’t what we anticipated.
In addition to their wage, retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman told the Washingtonian that astronauts receive the same compensation as any other federal employee while on a business trip anywhere in the world.
“They end up being legally obligated to pay you a small amount of money every day for incidentals,” she stated.
It cost her about $4 (£3.19) a day.
Williams and Wilmore would only receive an additional $1,004 (£801.27) for their time if this were the case.