No return date for astronauts and faulty Boeing capsule at ISS, says NASA.

• NASA and Boeing extended the stay of test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the International Space Station due to thruster failures and helium leaks on the new Starliner capsule, which was originally planned for a week-long visit and return in mid-June.
• Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, stated that mission managers are not yet prepared to disclose a return date. The objective is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner.
• The Dragon capsule by SpaceX serves as an additional way to transport NASA astronauts to and from the space station.

Officials announced that two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers resolve the issues with their Boeing capsule, which has been more than a month late in returning.

NASA and Boeing extended the stay of test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in the orbiting lab due to thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule, which was supposed to be for about a week and return in mid-June.

Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager, stated that mission managers are not yet prepared to disclose a return date. According to him, the objective is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner.

"We'll come home when we're ready," Stich said.

NASA astronauts can also use SpaceX's Dragon capsule to travel to and from the space station.

"NASA always has contingency options," he said.

Engineers have completed testing on a spare thruster in the New Mexico desert and will dissect it to determine the cause of the failure that occurred during the Starliner's docking on June 6. Four of the five failed thrusters have since been reactivated.

The team will test-fire the capsule's thrusters this weekend while docked to the space station to gather more data, said Boeing's Mark Nappi.

The 28 maneuvering thrusters, each weighing 2 pounds and fitting in a hand, are part of a discarded segment that does not require study for future flights. The capsule also has bigger engines for exiting orbit at the end of the flight.

NASA outsourced astronaut rides to the space station after retiring the space shuttles, shelling out billions of dollars to Boeing and SpaceX.

Boeing's first test flight with a crew aboard in 2022, following a failed demo in 2019 due to bad software, encountered additional problems.

Since 2020, SpaceX has been transporting astronauts. However, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets have been grounded for two weeks due to an upper-stage failure on a satellite-delivery mission. The longer the stand-down continues, the greater the likelihood that upcoming crew flights will be delayed.