5 Times Astronauts Were Trapped in Space
As much of an honor as it is to go to space, there’s a lot to worry about: completing your mission, making sure everything separating you from the void doesn’t explode, the lack of IMAX theaters, etc. But the worst-case scenario (that doesn’t kill you immediately, at least) is getting stuck out there, with no way of knowing when you’ll be able to come back to your home planet. It happens more often than you’d think.
The Boeing Starliner Test Flight
On June 5, 2024, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore embarked upon a test flight to the International Space Station on Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. They were supposed to come back eight days later, but technical issues with the Starliner have left them stranded for more than two months, and they might be up there for eight more. They might even have to hitch a ride back on a SpaceX flight, which is like getting a lift home from a party with the glee club because your friends abandoned you.
Expedition 15
Amazingly, this isn’t the first time Sunita Williams has stared down the prospect of getting stuck in space. In 2007, she was on a mission to the ISS that was supposed to end in early July, but damage to a space shuttle meant potentially delaying her return by several weeks. NASA was discussing ways to “make her more comfortable for that extended period of time,” but she actually ended up coming home early, in late June. What a roller coaster.
Expedition 57
In June 2018, Serena Auñón-Chancellor, Sergey Prokopyev and Alexander Gerst flew up to the ol’ ISS, expecting to return in early December after two other astronauts were sent to join them in October. Then a booster rocket that was supposed to launch those guys failed, leaving the original three stranded “indefinitely.” That turned out to be 17 days longer than expected, which is about a century in “stuck in space” years.
Expedition 67/68/69
Would you believe it? Once again, the same astronaut got stuck in space twice. In 2022, it was Sergey Prokopyev who somehow worked up the nerve to return to the ISS, along with Dmitri Petelin and Frank Rubio, for what was supposed to be a six-month mission but ended up lasting more than a year after their return capsule was damaged. Rubio got the American record for the longest spaceflight, but since another Russian had him beat by about two months, all Prokopyev got was a well-deserved vacation.
Mir EO-9
In 1991, Sergei Krikalev went on a routine expedition to the Soviet space station Mir. Then the Soviet Union collapsed. It was suddenly unclear who owned the space station he was on, who (or if anyone) would be coming to replace him and what country he’d be coming home to. He ended up spending 311 days in space, about twice as many as he was supposed to and about half of the number that broke the record for the most cumulative days in space in 2005, proving you can do anything if people ignore you long enough.
