A Brief History of Astronauts Stuck in Space

NASA’s Boeing Starliner crew is far from the first to require a Plan B to return from orbit.

Ben Evans

Monday, September 09, 2024 at 02:41 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule will return from its test flight without a crew. [Credit: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

Boeing Starliner astronauts Wilmore and Williams' mission was unexpectedly extended from 8 days to 8 months—the largest duration hike in history—due to critical helium leaks and thruster failures, necessitating their return on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Unforeseen mission extensions and "ride-swapping" are not new in spaceflight, with historical precedents including the Columbia disaster, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and various operational issues.
Despite the personal sacrifices, Wilmore and Williams will uniquely become the first humans to launch and land in four different spacecraft types due to their prolonged mission.

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When NASA announced August 24 that Boeing Starliner astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain in space another six months, miss Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s holidays with their families, and land in a different spacecraft, it stirred headlines worldwide.

But theirs is not the first mission to be unexpectedly lengthened or hit by unforeseen circumstances.