NASA's two stuck astronauts just got their space mission extended again. That means they won't be back until spring, 10 months after rocketing into orbit on Boeing's Starliner capsule.
To be fair, it's incredibly hard to get into orbit, and it's relatively easy to get anywhere from there. The fact we can get into orbit pretty safely, reliably, and consistently while struggling to do stuff that's so much easier well is impressive.
Some reporters began calling the astronauts "stranded" or "stuck" on the ISS. NASA and Boeing stress, however, that this couldn't be further from the truth.
Its all about phrasing. They are just having an extended layover because their flight is delayed. Boeing also provides courtesy, in-flight door removal.
Seems like that could breed resentment in the minds of astronauts who get stuck, like Butch and Suni. As cool as working in space would be, it's still work. Combined with the toll that microgravity takes on the body, and missing my loved ones, I'd be wanting some "extra" compensation for my time and health.
I'm sure they're just thrilled. We're probably going to learn all kinds of things about what happens to a human during an extended spaceflight from their ruined bodies.
I mean the article says that they will have only been up there for 10 months, and most space station missions last 6 months up to a year, so we have plenty of other examples of people who have been up there as long or longer.
I wonder- Are people here still going to argue that they're definitely happier to be up there than on the ground with their partners and kids when they thought they were going to see them again in 8 days because they're in space!!!!!