NASA moves up astronauts' return to Earth after SpaceX capsule switch

NASA has announced a change in plans that will likely bring two astronauts back to Earth sooner than initially expected.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for over eight months, are now slated to return in mid-March, instead of late March or April, Caliber.Az reports referring to US media.

Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, acknowledged the unexpected nature of human spaceflight, stating, "Human spaceflight is full of unexpected challenges."

The astronauts had originally been scheduled to return in June on Boeing’s Starliner capsule after a brief flight demo, but due to difficulties with the capsule’s mission to the ISS, NASA had to cancel the flight and reassign them to SpaceX.

The return was further delayed when SpaceX postponed the launch of their replacements due to additional preparations needed for the new capsule.

With more work still required on the new spacecraft, NASA decided to use an older SpaceX capsule for the upcoming mission, with a liftoff now scheduled for March 12. This capsule was initially meant for a private crew mission by Axiom Space, featuring astronauts from Poland, Hungary, and India, but their flight has been rescheduled for later in the spring.

This decision comes two weeks after NASA stated that it was working urgently to bring Wilmore and Williams back, with support from President Donald Trump and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, both pledging to accelerate the astronauts' return.

The new crew set to launch will include two NASA astronauts, as well as one from Japan and one from Russia.

By Tamilla Hasanova