Why stranded NASA astronauts still can’t come back to Earth despite being stuck there since last year

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been trapped on the International Space Station for 244 days following a botched mission last June.

A technical fault has kept the pair away from their families for as long as eight months now. Their only hope of returning home is reportedly a rescue mission in March, which Elon Musk and his SpaceX troops are planning.

But what exactly went so wrong for the pair, who were only scheduled to be in space for eight days? And why haven't technological leaders yet been successful in bringing them back down to Earth?

Who are Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore?

On 5 June last year, test pilots and retired navy captains Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore were blasted off into space in a Boeing Starliner before docking onto the International Space Station (ISS).

Their original mission was only supposed to be eight days long, but just a handful of days in, they began enduring technical issues.

Why haven't they returned to Earth yet?

Not only did the space capsule suffer five helium leaks, but five dead manoeuvring thrusters and a propellant valve that wouldn't close.

Fuel leaks were also detected on Starliner, according to the BBC. All of these problems affected the spacecraft's expendable propulsion system, which would have been used to push the capsule away from the ISS, in line to dive straight through Earth's atmosphere.

They've been scheduled to return home a handful of times now, but each has resulted in NASA being forced to delay a date.

SpaceX have been forced to delay several rescue missions (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

According to Reuters - as per Sky News - an internal source from Starliner revealed on 27 June 2024, 6 July being their return date was originally discussed - though, as we know, this has long passed, and Williams and Wilmore still remain space-bound, with NASA having rescheduled their rescue mission three times.

In the weeks following the launch, NASA turned to SpaceX - Musk's space technology company - in the hope that they'd be able to assist, being that the firm had handled several crewed space missions in recent years.

In September, the tech company was forced to ground its batch of Falcon 9 rockets, however, after one suffered a malfunction during the Florida launch of a mission aimed to recover the two stranded astronauts, The Independent reports.

What have the astronauts been up to?

So far, the astronauts have spent the US election, Thanksgiving and Christmas over 200 miles away from Earth.

The two also received two deliveries of supplies recently - including clothes, food, water and oxygen - with NASA saying in December: "The resupply spacecraft also carried special items for the crew to celebrate the holidays aboard the orbital platform."

Despite this, there have been concerns about Williams and Wilmore's general wellbeing.

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stranded in the International Space Station since June 2024 (NASA)

The duo have also endured the risk of a loss of bone density caused by microgravity, and have been forced to conduct around two or more hours of exercise everyday to combat the condition.

"Your joints don't hurt, which is quite nice," 62-year-old Wilmore explained during a press conference on Friday.

And speaking to Needham High School in Massachusetts on Monday (3 February), Williams revealed that life with no gravity meant that she'd lost the ability to carry out several basic tasks, admitting she can't remember how to walk.

"I've been up here long enough, right now I've been trying to remember what it's like to walk," she admitted. "I haven't walked. I haven't sat down. I haven't laid down."

Thankfully, however, the pair have been exploring their out-of-this-world surroundings, and last Thursday (30 Jan), they embarked on their first spacewalk together - despite having been onboard the ISS for almost three-quarters of a year.

According to The Guardian, after venturing into the abyss to conduct maintenance work, Williams and Wilmore wiped the station's exterior in search of any microbes that might be alive and had escaped through its vents.

There have been recent concerns for the pair's health (NASA)

Despite the achievement, the pair told press via a news conference last month that they do 'wanna go home'.

"We left our families a little while ago - but we have a lot to do up here and we have to get that stuff done before we go." Sunita explained.

The 59-year-old also branded space her 'happy place', before admitting that she longed to be reunited with her family and two dogs.

When will they come home?

According to most reports, SpaceX crew won't be able to implement their return plan until late March or early April of this year, The Guardian reports.

Their mission was extended to 10 months as a result of delays of the tech firm launching their replacements.

Recently sworn-in US president, Donald Trump called on Musk last week to bring Williams and Wilmore back down to Earth, whilst taking a swipe at his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Trump recently reaffirmed that Musk's team will bring home the stranded astronauts (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Posting on Truth Social on 28 January, the 78-year-old claimed: "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden administration."

He added: "They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!"

In the hours before Trump shared his demand, Musk accepted his challenge.

In a post shared on X, the Tesla boss declared: "The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long."