--- title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? It May Not Be Until 2025 | TIME description: 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. canonical: https://time.com/video/VMltxGsd/ og:title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? It May Not Be Until 2025 og:description: 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. og:url: https://time.com/video/VMltxGsd/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VMltxGsd/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? It May Not Be Until 2025 twitter:description: 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. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VMltxGsd/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Science # When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? It May Not Be Until 2025 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. 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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._ --- Aug 9, 2024 3:09 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [SpaceX Launches New Crew to the Space Station to Replace NASA’s Stuck Astronauts](/video/FofR3eRF/) ### SpaceX Launches New Crew to the Space Station to Replace NASA’s Stuck Astronauts [Exclusive: Space Station Astronauts Talk to TIME](/video/hYuEYVW5/) ### Exclusive: Space Station Astronauts Talk to TIME [NASA Astronauts ISS Spacewalk](/video/KMSM5OoC/) ### NASA Astronauts ISS Spacewalk --- ## Transcript [00:00] Have a major announcement today relative to a return date. [00:04] We're making great progress, [00:06] but we're just not quite ready to do that. The team is doing great. [00:09] The Joint Boeing and NASA team is doing well. [00:11] They're working side by side with each other every day. [00:14] We're methodically working through the data, [00:16] and we'll come home when we're ready. [00:19] This is a very complicated subject the helium leaks, [00:23] combined with the thrusters, [00:25] combined with how the GNC flight control system will work during the Dob burn. [00:30] Getting everybody educated and understanding that ahead of [00:33] the flight readies review is the next step that we have on our side. [00:38] Our mission was to get the crew to ISS. [00:40] That's been completed. Our mission was to learn from a flight test. [00:43] A lot of the learning that we've achieved so far, [00:47] really, in my opinion, [00:49] could only be achieved through the flight test, [00:51] and now it's time to get on with returning the crew safely, [00:54] and there's that step left to go. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"When Are the Astronauts ‘Stuck’ in Space Coming Home? 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