--- title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? description: NASA is exploring a contingency plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been at the International Space Station for two months. canonical: https://time.com/7008948/astronauts-in-space-nasa-backup-plan/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-08-07T20:50:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T18:06:43.081Z article:section: Science og:title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? og:description: NASA is exploring a contingency plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been in space for two months. og:url: https://time.com/7008948/astronauts-in-space-nasa-backup-plan/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt540851436b581734/698a59b0d075335e08e7115a/Boeing-Starliner-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-SPACE-BOEING-STARLINER-AEROSPACE og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? twitter:description: NASA is exploring a contingency plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been in space for two months. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt540851436b581734/698a59b0d075335e08e7115a/Boeing-Starliner-NASA.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Aug 7, 2024 8:50 PM UTC  NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5, 2024. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, wave as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center for Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5, 2024. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo—AFP/Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Aug 7, 2024 8:50 PM UTC NASA is exploring a contingency plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been at the International Space Station (ISS) for two months with no clear end in sight. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams—who piloted the first crewed test flight of Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft—initially arrived at the ISS on June 6**.** On Wednesday during a [press conference](https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv/) held by NASA, it became clear that the Starliner is going through problems that may prevent the astronauts from returning to Earth until 2025\. "We know at some point we need to bring Butch and Suni home,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations. NASA revealed they are exploring a backup option for Wilmore and Williams to travel back to Earth on another spacecraft. Steve Stich, the manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said that the backup plan would involve a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule traveling to the ISS with two astronauts rather than its intended four. Wilmore and Williams would stay at the space station before returning to Earth on the Crew Dragon in February 2025\. The capsule was built by SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor. “We could take either path,” Bowersox said. Wilmore and Williams were supposed to be in space for just eight days, but their stay has been extended because of issues related to Starliner’s thrusters. NASA and Boeing officials have [emphasized](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/28/science/boeing-starliner-nasa-astronauts.html), though, that the crew is not “stranded” or “stuck” in space, and that they had plans for them to return at the “right time.” The SpaceX launch had previously been set for Aug. 18, but NASA [announced](https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-9/2024/08/06/nasa-adjusts-crew-9-launch-date-for-operational-flexibility/) on Tuesday that the launch has been pushed back to no earlier than Sept. 24 so that officials can finalize a plan for Starliner’s return. Boeing said in a [statement](https://starlinerupdates.com/boeings-confidence-remains-high-in-starliners-return-with-crew/) on Friday that it “remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew,” adding that it was supporting NASA’s requests for additional testing, data, analysis and reviews of the spacecraft. If the backup plan is approved, Starliner would return to Earth [without any astronauts](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/science/boeing-starliner-nasa-spacex.html) on board. NASA officials stressed that they haven’t made a final decision. “Our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” Stich said. “However, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7008948/astronauts-in-space-nasa-backup-plan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7008948/astronauts-in-space-nasa-backup-plan/"},"headline":"When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? 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