SpaceX delays flight to replace NASA’s stuck astronauts after launch pad problem
Updated: 9:15 AM CDT Mar 13, 2025
WHO’S COUNTING? RIGHT. WELL. WE ARE. IT’S BEEN 217 DAYS SINCE JUNE 5TH. THE DAY THE FIRST CREWED STARLINER VESSEL LAUNCHED. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN 8 TO 10 DAY MISSION. AND NOW, HALF A YEAR LATER, THE CREW IS OPTIMISTIC, BUT LOOK FORWARD TO COMING HOME THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME. WE’RE ALSO HEARING FROM THE BOEING STARLINER ASTRONAUTS FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR, WAITING TO COME BACK HOME FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. THEY’RE SET TO MAKE THEIR WAY BACK TO EARTH THIS SPRING AFTER ISSUES WITH THE BOEING SPACECRAFT DELAYED THEIR RETURN. WESH 2’S TONY ATKINS WAS THERE THE DAY THE CREW TOOK OFF FROM THE SPACE COAST IN JUNE. THE STARLINER CREW BLASTED OFF ON JUNE 5TH. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE AN 8 TO 10 DAY MISSION, A TEST FLIGHT OF BOEING’S SPACECRAFT, AND NOW, MORE THAN HALF A YEAR LATER, THE CREW SAYS THEY’RE OPTIMISTIC TO COME BACK, BUT THEY’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT RETURN. WOULD YOU PUT TO REST FOR THE FINAL TIME? AND I HOPE YOU NEVER HAVE TO ANSWER IT AGAIN. JUST HOW YOU ALL ARE DOING. WE WORE SOME CLOTHES FOR A WHILE, BUT THAT DOESN’T BOTHER US. A NEW YEAR CHECK IN. NASA LEADERS TOOK A VIDEO CALL WITH SEVERAL OF ITS ASTRONAUTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ON WEDNESDAY. WE NEVER HAD ANY ISSUE WITH WEARING CLOTHES FOR AN EXTENDED AMOUNT OF TIME. NOW WE HAVE PLENTY OF CLOTHES. WE ARE WELL FED. I’VE NEVER SEEN ANYONE EVER, EVER EAT AS MUCH AS DON PETTIT CAN EAT IN THAT GROUP. SUNI WILLIAMS AND BUTCH WILMORE, WHO ARRIVED AT THE ES ABOARD BOEING’S FIRST CREWED STARLINER SPACE CAPSULE. NOW, THE DUO IS COMING BACK ALONGSIDE SPACEX’S CREW NINE, FOLLOWING A VEHICLE COMPLICATIONS AND SAFETY CONCERNS WITH THE BOEING CAPSULE. WE’VE GOT A WHOLE TEAM UP HERE, SO WE’RE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THAT, AND THERE’S A LOT TO DO AS WELL WITH THE TEAM ON THE GROUND. IN THE MEANTIME, THE ASTRONAUTS ARE WORKING, DOING EXPERIMENTS TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE TIME AND OPPORTUNITY. WE’RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE CREATE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS THAT ARE SUSTAINABLE BEYOND EARTH ORBIT, THAT WE DON’T HAVE TO CONTINUALLY RESUPPLY? AND THOUGH THIS WASN’T NEARLY THE PLAN BACK IN JUNE, THEY SAY THEY ARE FOCUSED ON THE TASKS AT HAND AND THEY CAN’T WAIT TO COME BACK TO MOTHER EARTH. NO, IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE WE’RE CASTAWAY. YEAH, EVENTUALLY WE WANT TO GO HOME BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE LEFT OUR FAMILIES A LITTLE WHILE AGO, BUT BUT WE HAVE A LOT TO DO WHILE WE’RE UP HERE. AND WE GOT TO GET ALL THAT STUFF DONE BEFORE WE GO HOME. NASA SAYS THE CREW IS SET TO COME BACK NO LATER THAN MARCH. I’M COVERING SPACEX I
A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NASA’s two stuck astronauts.Video above: ‘We want to come home’: Astronauts reflect on delayed return to EarthThe new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket’s planned evening liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. As the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to release one of the two arms clamping the rocket to its support structure. This structure needs to tilt back right before liftoff.Already strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. Officials later said the launch was off until at least Friday.Once at the space station, the U.S., Japanese and Russian crew will replace Wilmore and Williams, who have been up there since June. The two test pilots had to move into the space station for an extended stay after Boeing’s new Starliner capsule encountered major breakdowns in transit.Starliner’s debut crew flight was supposed to last just a week, but NASA ordered the capsule to return empty and transferred Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX for the return leg.
A launch pad problem prompted SpaceX to delay a flight to the International Space Station on Wednesday to replace NASA’s two stuck astronauts.
Video above: ‘We want to come home’: Astronauts reflect on delayed return to Earth
The new crew needs to get to the International Space Station before Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams can head home after nine months in orbit.
Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket’s planned evening liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. As the countdown clocks ticked down, engineers evaluated the hydraulics used to release one of the two arms clamping the rocket to its support structure. This structure needs to tilt back right before liftoff.
Already strapped into their capsule, the four astronauts awaited a final decision, which came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown. Officials later said the launch was off until at least Friday.
Once at the space station, the U.S., Japanese and Russian crew will replace Wilmore and Williams, who have been up there since June. The two test pilots had to move into the space station for an extended stay after Boeing’s new Starliner capsule encountered major breakdowns in transit.
Starliner’s debut crew flight was supposed to last just a week, but NASA ordered the capsule to return empty and transferred Wilmore and Williams to SpaceX for the return leg.