The story of the astronauts trapped in space

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – an astrologer Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are still stuck in space, and they can’t even go home until 2025. NASA is still considering the best options to bring the two astronauts back to earth.

However, for now, it is possible that NASA will send the two astronauts on a mission that is scheduled to launch in September. Then they return in February 2025.

The two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, were unable to return home after their spacecraft experienced problems. Both were on the Starliner and experienced technical failures shortly after arriving at the ISS.

Faults on the Starliner included throttle failure and a helium leak. In the history of space missions, similar cases often occur.

The following is a summary of the case astronauts can’t go home which was quoted from the Science News page on Friday (23/08/2024).

1. Sergei Krikalev

Sergei Krikalev was a Soviet cosmonaut who launched to MIR on 18 May 1991. Krikalev at the end of the mission or in October. When he was about to go home, there were violent disturbances on Earth that this 33-year-old man never knew about during his mission.

It turned out that his home country, the Soviet Union, was isolating him. From August, Soviet satellite states began to secede and a wave of reforms began to weaken the government.

Until finally, at the end of December, the Soviet Union was declared dissolved and no longer existed in the world. The lack of a communist state almost left Krikalev’s fate in limbo.

When he asked to return to earth he was refused by the Russian government. The reason is simple because the world of astronomy is no longer a top priority.

Later, Krikalev was told that there was no money on Earth to bring him home. Even if they are allowed to go home, there is no country where they can land. Kazakhstan, the country where the rocket was launched, has seen changes.

Under these conditions, Krilalev was declared lost in outer space. He was not alone because there were other astronauts. However, Krikalev became the longest serving astronaut on Mir.

In the end, he chose to stay in space for 311 consecutive days, double the length of his original mission. He only returned to Russia on March 25, 1992.