Wait, didn't they leave? That's the question everyone keeps asking whenever NASA makes a headlines these days. You probably remember the grainy footage from June 2024 when Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams floated into the International Space Station (ISS) with those massive grins. It was supposed to be a quick eight-day trip. A "taxi ride" to prove Boeing’s Starliner could play in the same league as SpaceX. But then the thrusters started acting up. Helium leaked. Suddenly, those eight days turned into months.
If you’re looking for a quick "yes" or "no" on whether are the astronauts still stuck, the answer is actually "no"—but with a massive asterisk. Butch and Suni are still up there on the ISS as of early 2026, but they aren't "stuck" in the way a person is stuck in an elevator. They’re working. They’re part of the official crew now. But the ship they arrived on? That’s already back on Earth, and it came home empty.
What actually went wrong with Starliner?
Space is hard. We hear that all the time, right? But for Boeing, it’s been uniquely brutal. When the Calypso capsule (that’s the specific Starliner craft) approached the ISS, five of its 28 reaction control system thrusters just... quit. They failed. Engineers on the ground were scrambling. While they managed to get four of them back online, the risk profile changed instantly.
NASA is obsessed with "redundancy." If you lose one system, you need another. If you lose the backup, you’re in trouble. The helium leaks were another headache. Helium is what pushes the fuel into the engines. No helium, no thrust. No thrust, no controlled re-entry. NASA leadership, including Steve Stich and Ken Bowersox, had to make a gut-wrenching call: do we risk putting humans in a ship that might lose its steering on the way down?
They chose "no."
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In September 2024, the Starliner unberthed from the ISS autonomously. It landed in New Mexico without a soul on board. It was a ghost ship. It actually landed fairly well, which adds a layer of "what if" to the whole drama. But for Butch and Suni, the ride home was gone.
The SpaceX "Rescue" and the 2025/2026 Timeline
So, how do they get back? This is where the irony gets thick. Boeing’s biggest rival, SpaceX, became the designated driver.
NASA shifted Butch and Suni to the Crew-9 mission. Originally, Crew-9 was supposed to carry four people up. Instead, they launched with only two—Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov—leaving two empty seats for the Starliner duo. This effectively turned a short-duration test flight into a standard six-month expedition.
Life on the ISS right now
People think they're pacing the halls of the space station like bored teenagers. They aren't. Butch and Suni are seasoned pros. Wilmore is a retired Navy captain; Williams is a retired Navy captain too. They’ve both lived on the ISS before.
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- They are performing science experiments involving plant growth in microgravity.
- They’ve been maintaining the station’s plumbing (yes, space toilets break).
- They participate in the daily 12-hour shifts that keep the $150 billion laboratory running.
Honestly, the ISS is cramped. It’s about the size of a six-bedroom house, but it’s filled with equipment, cables, and other people. Including the Starliner pair, the station has seen its "population" swell and shrink as different missions rotate through. It gets crowded.
The psychological toll of an "Infinite" mission
Imagine packing a suitcase for a one-week business trip to Vegas. You bring a few shirts, some socks, and your toothbrush. Then, your boss calls and says, "Actually, you're staying for eight months. Also, you can't leave the hotel. And the hotel is in a vacuum."
That’s the reality.
They didn't have their personal gear. NASA had to send up extra clothes and "hygiene kits" on subsequent resupply missions. There were rumors and tabloid reports about Suni Williams losing weight or looking "gaunt" in photos. NASA’s medical team shot that down pretty quickly, though. They monitor caloric intake and bone density like hawks. Still, you can't tell me it doesn't wear on you. Missing birthdays. Missing holidays. Missing the feeling of rain.
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Why didn't they just use a different Russian Soyuz?
Some people asked why they couldn't just hop on a Russian craft. The logistics are a nightmare. Each seat on a Soyuz or a Crew Dragon is custom-fitted. The "liners" for the seats are molded to the specific astronaut’s body to protect their spine during the high-G impact of landing. You can't just "ride shotgun."
The bigger picture for Boeing and NASA
The question of are the astronauts still stuck matters because it signals a shift in the "Space Race 2.0." For years, Boeing was the gold standard. They were the reliable legacy giant. SpaceX was the scrappy upstart. Now? The roles have flipped.
Boeing has taken over $1.5 billion in cost overruns on the Starliner program. It’s a fixed-price contract, meaning Boeing foots the bill for the delays, not the taxpayers. That sounds good for us, but it’s bad for the future of competition. If Boeing pulls out, SpaceX becomes a monopoly for American manned spaceflight. NASA hates that. They want two different ways to get to the ISS. "Dissimilar redundancy," they call it.
What happens next?
If you’re tracking the calendar, the Crew-9 mission is slated to wrap up in the early half of 2026. That is when Butch and Suni will finally feel gravity again. They’ll splash down in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, likely off the coast of Florida.
It’ll be one of the longest unplanned stays in space history for a crew that didn't intend to be there.
Actionable insights for the space-curious
- Track the ISS Position: You can actually see where Butch and Suni are right now. Use the NASA "Spot the Station" app. If the sky is clear, it looks like a fast-moving, steady white light. It’s wild to look up and realize two people are up there because of a software glitch and a leaky valve.
- Follow the Crew-10 Launch: The next major rotation will happen soon. Watch how NASA handles the seat assignments. It’ll tell you everything you need to know about the status of the ISS "occupancy" limits.
- Monitor the Starliner Post-Mortem: Boeing is currently tearing apart the data from the September uncrewed landing. They need to prove the thruster issue is fixed before NASA will let another human step foot on a Starliner. Watch for the "Flight Test 3" announcement—it’s Boeing’s last chance.
The situation is a reminder that in space, plans are basically just suggestions. You adapt or you don't survive. Butch and Suni adapted. They stopped being "stuck" the moment they accepted their new roles as full-time station residents. Now, they’re just waiting for their ride to show up.