Astronauts stranded on space station to return next February, NASA announces
NASA has announced the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) will return to Earth on SpaceX in February 2025.
Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams and Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore blasted off in Boeing’s new spacecraft on 5 June, and were meant to stay in orbit for eight days after docking on the ISS.
However, problems with the Starliner’s propulsion system mean the NASA astronauts’ return to Earth has been repeatedly delayed. They have now been there for more than two months.
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NASA administrator Bill Nelson said at a press conference on Saturday a manned return on Starliner would be too dangerous, and the two astronauts are safest staying on the space station.
“Spaceflight is risky,” he said. “Even at its safest, and even at its most routine. A test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine.”
Associate administrator Jim Free then added: “The uncertainty in our [technological] margins is what drove our decision.”
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Pic: NASA / AP
Starliner will now undock in early September and attempt to return on autopilot. The two astronauts are set to return in February on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft which is due to launch next month as part of a routine astronaut rotation mission.
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore both support the plan “fully,” and the SpaceX crew will make the necessary adjustments. NASA also said no serious consideration was given to asking SpaceX for a quick stand-alone rescue.
Many of Starliner’s thrusters in the propulsion system overheated when fired and leaks of helium, used to pressurise the thrusters, appear to be connected to how frequently they are used, NASA’s commercial crew manager Steve Stich previously explained.
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Speaking at the press conference on Saturday, Mr Stitch said: “The bottom line relative to bringing Starliner back is there was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters.
“If we had a model – if we had a way to accurately predict what the thrusters would do for the undock and all the way through the deorbit burn and through the separation sequence, I think we would have taken a different course of action.
“But when we looked at the data and looked at the potential for thruster failures with a crew on board… it was just too much risk for the crew.“
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It marks another blow to Boeing’s spaceflights after the company won a contract with NASA worth more than $4bn a decade ago.
Starliner’s first test flight without a crew in 2019 was fouled by bad software, prompting a do-over in 2022.
Since then, parachute issues have cropped up, and a helium leak in the capsule’s propellant system halted a launch attempt in May.
NASA officials still hope Starliner’s problems can be corrected in time for another crew flight in a year or so.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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