NASA's astronauts cannot return from ISS due to poor weather
What's the story
The return of NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 mission from the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed due to bad weather near Florida's splashdown sites. The space agency announced that the weather is still too unstable for an undocking attempt. NASA and SpaceX are closely monitoring the situation and won't attempt undocking until at least 9:05pm EDT today (6:35am IST, tomorrow), if conditions improve.
Forecast update
Weather forecasts predict improvement later this week
Current weather forecasts indicate a possible improvement later in the week. This could offer a safer window for the Crew-8 mission's return to Earth. The crew includes astronauts Matthew Dominick, Jeanette Epps, Mike Barratt (all from NASA), and Alexander Grebenkin of Russia's Roscosmos. As of now, the crew is continuing its daily activities aboard the ISS, which includes exercise routines and housekeeping tasks.
Future
Crew-9 will bring back Sunita Williams
The Crew-8 is the predecessor to the Crew-9 mission, which is supposed to bring back astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams from the ISS. They were originally launched into space aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June this year, for an eight-day mission. However, the Starliner faced technical problems and returned to Earth without its crew. The Crew-9 should bring the duo back to Earth in February 2025.