The SpaceX mission that is set to help bring back the stranded astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS) has encountered a rare problem, the company has announced.
Astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Suni Williams embarked on an exciting space mission back in June.
The task was only meant to last eight days, but the astronauts remain on the ISS to this day.
As they approached the famed space station, they encountered several problems with the Boeing Starliner they were on.
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The capsule experienced five helium leaks, while the manoeuvring thrusters also went dead.
Wilmore and Williams have been stuck on the ISS ever since, completing jobs while they remain away from their family.
However, help is on the way for the stranded astronauts and it's in form of unlikely help from Elon Musk who is bringing them home.
Many believed NASA could have got out of the sticky situation itself, but the space agency has instead enlisted the help of Musk's SpaceX.
SpaceX launched its Dragon capsule on Saturday (28 September), which has spare seats for Wilmore and Williams.
The capsule docked on the ISS on Sunday (29 September), successfully dropping off NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
However, the mission did not go without any hiccups as the upper stage of the rocket experienced an unexpected problem.
Explaining exactly what went on, the SpaceX Twitter account penned: "After today’s successful launch of Crew-9, Falcon 9’s second stage was disposed in the ocean as planned, but experienced an off-nominal deorbit burn.
"As a result, the second stage safely landed in the ocean, but outside of the targeted area.
"We will resume launching after we better understand root cause."
As for Wilmore and Williams, they were not due to return for a while. In fact, the return mission won't commence until February 2025.
Speaking at a press conference last month directly from the ISS, Wilmore opened up about his current way of living up in space.
He said: “It’s been quite an evolution over the last three months, we’ve been involved from the beginning through all the processes of assessing our spacecraft, Calypso.
“And it was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through.
“You certainly, as the commander and the PLT (pilot) of your spacecraft, you don’t want to see it go off without you, but that’s where we wound up.”
Topics: Space X, NASA, International Space Station, Elon Musk
Callum Jones