2024-09-03 04:33:53
The American space agency NASA has announced that it is reducing the crew of the next flight of “SpaceX” in order to be able to return to Earth the two astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) in June on the “Starliner” flight, the Associated Press reported.
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov will head to the ISS in September on a SpaceX rocket. The two are slated to return to Earth in February 2025 with Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore. NASA deemed it too risky for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth in Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which had suffered several technical problems.
NASA astronauts Zina Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who will participate in future missions, have been cut from the flight crew in September, NASA announced, BTA writes.
Williams and Wilmore are Boeing’s first space crew. They arrived in the Starliner capsule to the ISS in June, and their mission was planned to last a week. Due to the technical problems encountered, the capsule will return without a crew, most likely on Friday next week, and is expected to land in the New Mexico desert.