Outlook Web Desk
Boeing's Starliner first crew flight, which carried NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS, was faced obstacles such as thruster issues and helium leaks.
On August 24, NASA announced that Suni and Butch will return to Earth in February 2025 on SpaceX Crew Dragon flight, saying that return on Starliner would be too risky. A 2-week stay has now become a 8-month stay.
Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev aboard the Mir space station -- launched in May, 1991 -- was set to spend about 150 days on it. But since the Soviet Union fell apart during the mission, he spent a record 311 days in orbit at the time.
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov set a straight record after spending 437 consecutive days aboard the Mir space station in 1994 and 1995.
In 1996, NASA's Shannon Lucid aboard the Mir spent six months in space instead of her scheduled four month-stay due to delays in shuttle launch, longest ever flight flown by a woman.
A Russian cosmonaut and 2 American astronauts were stuck on the ISS in February 2003 after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated while re-entering the atmosphere. Amid safety concerns, they spent extra 3 months in space and returned in May 2003.
In 2017, NASA extended astronaut Peggy Whitson's 6-month stay to 9.5 months due to a reduced number of Russian cosmonauts on the ISS, setting a new record for women. Then Christina Koch set a new record after spending 11 months in space in 2019-'20.
American astronaut Frank Rubio and two Russian cosmonauts docked at the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz in September 2022, set to return in the same spacecraft in March 2023. But due to some issues in Soyuz, Rubio spent 371 days in space.
An expert said that it is not usually an issue when astronauts have to spend more time than expected in space. However it could be dangerous for the older ones as they could suffer muscle & bone-loss in a microgravity environment, NatGeo reported.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "Our astronauts make extraordinary sacrifices away from their homes and loves ones to further discovery." Words that fit aptly for many astronauts, including Suni And Butch.