Who are the Boeing Starliner astronauts stuck in space, and why are they still there?

They’re outer this world.

It’s been almost six months since method issues stranded NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams onboard nan International Space Station.

Since their Boeing shuttle malfunctioned successful June, what was expected to beryllium conscionable a short eight-day travel has turned into another disaster for nan aerospace manufacturer — as nan astronauts person galore much weeks successful limbo earlier returning home.

More recently, a pulmonologist told the told nan Daily Mail that caller photos of Williams show concerning signs regarding her physique.

“What you’re seeing … is personification that I deliberation is experiencing nan earthy stresses of surviving astatine a very precocious altitude, moreover successful a pressurized cabin, for extended periods,” Gupta said. “Her cheeks look a spot sunken — and usually it happens erstwhile you’ve had benignant of full assemblage weight loss.”

This could beryllium owed to nan impacts of life successful space, resulting successful her burning much calories than she is consuming arsenic astronauts are urged to eat good supra mean astatine astir 3,500 calories per time — mostly of nutrient — because of precocious workout and activity.

“Her body’s astir apt moving harder to do basal things, because nan partial unit of oxygen is little than it would beryllium connected oversea level.”

Who is Suni Wiliams?

Williams is simply a 59-year-old astronaut from Euclid, Ohio who has flown 2 anterior missions to nan ISS successful nan mid-2000s and early 2010s earlier re-embarking into abstraction past June. She has antecedently worked pinch robotics onboard nan ISS.

Who is Butch Wilmore?

Barry “Butch” Wilmore is different seasoned astronaut who has flown 2 abstraction missions successful nan precocious 2,000s and mid-2010s wherever he has done respective spacewalks. The 61-year-old hails from Helenwood, Tennessee.

Have agelong person they been successful abstraction before?

Both seasoned astronauts person spent lengthy cumulative durations successful space, according to NASA. During her first mission, Williams, who has spent a full of 322 days successful space, group a female grounds astatine nan clip for 4 spacewalks that totaled 29 hours and 17 minutes.

Wilmore has had 178 days full successful space.

Why are they stuck successful space?

On June 6, some astronauts were nan first parented unit connected a Boeing Starliner capsule. However, a week aft docking pinch nan ISS, nan capsule began to acquisition thruster failures and helium leaks that sent their ngo into lengthy delays.

In August, NASA opted to person nan shuttle return to Earth without nan unit connected board.

What’s nan scheme to get them backmost to Earth?

NASA’s existent scheme is for a SpaceX Dragon trade moving tests astatine nan ISS to prime up Wilmore and Williams — but not until this coming February.

Has anyone been stuck connected nan International Space Station before?

While Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub clasp nan grounds for astir clip spent connected committee nan ISS astatine 374 days, location person been different instances of missions being importantly delayed — resulting successful astronauts stuck onboard.

In 2003, erstwhile nan Columbia shuttle disastrously and fatally disintegrated re-entering Earth, it kept NASA astronauts Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit connected committee for 161 full days, aliases astir 30% longer than anticipated, Astronomy.com reported.

Later successful 2017, a simplification successful nan magnitude of Russian cosmonauts onboard nan ISS resulted to NASA extending astronaut Peggy Whitson from a sixth-month ngo to 1 person to 10 months.

Later successful 2019, Christina Koch put 11 months onboard nan ISS alternatively of her planned six months aft she gave up her spot backmost location for a visiting astronaut from nan United Arab Emirates.