They have been stuck there for a long time for two reasons, although they are mostly related to the same issue: spacecraft technical breakdown.
Their intended return mission has been postponed due to problems with the SpaceX Crew-10 C213 Dragon capsule that would serve the required changeover protocol, in addition to the technical concerns that first left them stranded in space with their Boeing Starliner aircraft.
According to one retired astronaut, you may be surprised to learn the precise amount that the two NASA astronauts get paid for being stranded on the ISS.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ predicament is widely known; their eight-day journey to the ISS has now expanded to a 251-day stay, with no immediate plans to return
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Since no one has been available to transfer places, Williams and Wilmore have been effectively left “stranded.” NASA requires that any astronaut returning from the ISS provide a simultaneous changeover with an incoming expedition.
Although that isn’t necessarily the case, at least according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell in an interview with Washingtonian. McDowell outlines that “the party line at NASA is that the astronauts are not stranded,” insisting that “it’s way overblown.”
“They’re fine,” McDowell explains. “They just got to do an extra spacewalk, which they love. They’ll come home on the next ride.
