The fate of the astronauts stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) will not be decided for at least another week, the US space agency NASA announced on Wednesday.
According to NASA, it is still to be decided whether the two astronauts – Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams – will be kept at the space station and whether the ill-fated Starliner capsule will be sent back empty.
If that is the case, the astronauts' return trip will be arranged by competitor Space X, but that would mean they would remain at the space station until February next year.
Further analysis needs to be done before a decision can be made, NASA announced.
– We have time before we bring Starliner home and we want to use that time wisely, says Ken Bowersox at the agency.
The astronauts left Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner on June 5 and were scheduled to return eight days later.
During the journey, Starliner suffered from helium leaks and fuel supply problems, among other things. In addition, five guidance rockets stopped working.
Source: TT -Aftonbladet.se
