[Rocktet. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

The return of the two astronauts, who were initially scheduled to spend eight days on a test flight to the International Space Station(ISS) aboard Boeing’s space capsule, Starliner, has been delayed for over nine months and is expected to be further postponed due to the issue discovered with ground equipment of the replacement crew’s spacecraft.

NASA and SpaceX had planned to launch the space capsule ‘Dragon,’ carrying the Crew-10 team, who were expected to perform the ISS replacement mission, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at the Kennedy Space Center at 7:48 p.m. EDT Wednesday. 

In the final hours of the countdown, SpaceX engineers identified an issue with the hydraulic system of the launch pad. This system controls one of the two clamp arms that secure the Falcon 9 rocket for launch, and it was uncertain if one of the arms would retract as it was originally intended to do.

NASA stated, “The rocket and the spacecraft itself are both normal” and stated it would try to launch again in a few days.

The Crew-10 launch is a significant step in returning NASA astronauts Barry Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to Earth after the extended stay aboard the ISS.

Wilmore and Wiliams departed Earth and arrived at the ISS on June 5th last year aboard the Starliner capsule developed by Boeing for the spacecraft’s first piloted test flight.

Starliner successfully docked with the ISS the following day, but it experienced several defects in the fuselage, including a leak of the helium propulsion system and maneuvering jets that did not produce the expected thrust, continuously postponing the plan for returning to Earth.

NASA conducted several weeks of testing and analysis to determine whether the Starliner could be ensured to safely bring the crew back to Earth.

By August, Boeing engineers claimed that they had identified the problems and that the crew could safely return home in Starliner, however, NASA managers opposed and disagreed with the option and decided to use SpaceX’s Dragon capsule instead of the Starliner for return of astronauts with the safety concerns, and returned the Starliner unmanned.

Since then, Wilmore and Williams have remained aboard the ISS, continuing NASA missions such as facility maintenance and various space experiments. 

In late January, Musk stated the Biden Administration had left the two astronauts “stranded,” and Trump asked SpaceX to intervene in bringing them home.

Both Wilmore and Williams repeatedly clarified that they were not stranded or abandoned in space,  emphasizing they were prepared and trained for such contingencies.

NASA had already formulated its plan in August before Musk or Trump mentioned it when the agency asked SpaceX to return Williams and Wilmore from the ISS as part of its Crew-9 mission.

Following modifications to the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, they stated that they would launch the Crew-10 for the mission.

NASA and SpaceX could be ready to reattempt with a launch at 7:03 p.m. Friday, March 14, if the hydraulics problem can be resolved in time.

When given on-time launch for Crew 10 on Friday, Hague, Gorbunov, Wilmore, and Williams could undock on March 19 and land as early as March 20 or 21.