SpaceX Brings Home Astronauts After Boeing's Starliner Delays Extend ISS Mission

Four astronauts splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday after their record ISS mission stretched to eight months due to Boeing capsule malfunctions and hurricane disruptions. The SpaceX Dragon capsule landed off Florida's coast before dawn, carrying NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin.

Technical issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule in September, followed by Hurricane Milton and persistent rough seas, delayed their planned return by two months. The crew launched in March as part of NASA's commercial crew program. Their replacements include Boeing Starliner test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose mission expanded from eight days to eight months, alongside two SpaceX-launched astronauts. The new crew will remain aboard the station until February.

excellent

[mapkinase]

I am always happy when space mishaps are successfully overcome by plan B.

Last time it was with Soyuz problem on orbit, which resulted in a plunge from orbit with all the crew safe.

Re:

[rickb928]

This return mission didn't overcome the Starliner 'mishap'. Those astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, are still on the ISS, and will be returned on another SpaceX mission in February 2025.

Crew-8 was always expected to return on the Crew-9 Dragon capsule, according to NASA data. Wilmore and Williams were expected to return aboard Starliner-1, but problems with that craft led to their being incorporated into the ISS crew until next February, to be returned on the SpaceX Dragon Crew-9.

Crew-9 launched

Article was edited.

[Gravis Zero]

The two astronauts were overjoyed to be returning to Earth. Upon being told they would be returning to Florida, both astronauts attempted to exit the space stations through the airlock before being sedated with tranquilizer darts, strapped in the capsule and returned to Earth.

[ Click the video below to listen to the desperate pleas of both astronauts begging to be taken anywhere but Florida ]

[ Related News: New Jersey governor celebrates astronauts might have wanted to be taken to New Jersey instead of Florida. ]

It seemed odd that they removed such interesting stuff but whatever.

Re:

[jenningsthecat]

Thanks so much for that - my wife and I are still laughing!

If it's Boeing,

[jenningsthecat]

we can't get it going!

First time for two U.S. ships in one trip?

[sid crimson]

I think this might be the first time astronauts ascended in one U.S. ship and returned in another. (Soyuz is Russian). Kinda cool to have a first like that one.

Starliner Crew Still in Space

[Thelasko]

The Starliner crew did not return to Earth. A different crew of astronauts were returned. Butch and Sunny have become part of the crew rotation schedule and are "replacing" this crew that returned. Butch and Sunny won't return until the next rotation in February.

Notice all the bad press around SpaceX, now?

[Seven Spirals]

If it's not California trying to run off another one of Elon's businesses it's the news pounding on SpaceX and Tesla because Elon had the temerity to buy Twitter and fire some of the censors [yahoo.com] (of course they still censor for Elon, just not for the far-left media or government as readily, which is what they are pissed about). With the exception of "space news" sites, one rarely finds a regular (read: lefty) news outlet running stories about SpaceX that aren't negative. It's just like when McDonalds did the Tr