Oct 25, 2024 02:26 PM IST Share Via Also read | Mean Girls star Lacey Chabert ‘getting old’ for Hallmark? Network hit with age discrimination lawsuit A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 3, 2024. (REUTERS) And so, the Starliner spacecraft embarked on its journey home, unmanned, as it returned without its original crew members on September 6. In the meantime, Williams and Wilmore await the fruition of NASA’s new rescue mission for them, which eventually enlisted Musk’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which had yet to depart for the space station. With two seats empty on board the Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the SpaceX capsule lifted off on September 28. Two other astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, were meant to take off for the ISS with Hague and Gorbunov. Alas, their interstellar journey was not meant to be, as the company had to make room for the stranded astronauts, whose homecoming is currently slated for not before February 2025. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore not on board the SpaceX Crew-8 mission spacecraft landing on October 25 Why didn’t Williams and Wilmore board the early-leaving Crew-8 mission spacecraft that could have brought them home today? The reason is simple: they were not assigned to the spacecraft. This mission’s capsule had already been assigned two four NASA astronauts, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos’ Alexander Grebenkin, leaving no room for anyone. The Crew-8 members launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket on March 4, three months before Williams and Wilmore’s now-beleaguered spacecraft launched on an Atlas V rocket, marking the Starliner’s first crewed takeoff to the ISS. As of now, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent more than 18 weeks on the ISS. With another four or five months remaining before they join their two Crew-9 members on board the Crew Dragon, the pair is hard at work. According to CNN, they’ve joined Expedition 72, the international crew of astronauts serving as the ISS’ official staff. What are the stranded NASA astronauts up to on the ISS? During a September 22 ceremony, the Indian-origin astronaut even became the commander of the space station for the second time. Having spent all this time there, the NASA pair has warmed up to regular duties on the space station, naturally mingling with other staffers.