HOUSTON, Texas — Cardboard cutouts of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stand at the entrance of Johnson Space Center's Building 2 North.
That's where NASA officials updated the plan to bring their spacecraft back to Earth without them.
"It’s been a really busy and challenging Summer,” said NASA ISS Program Manager, Dana Weigel. "And I want to extend my sincerest appreciation to all the team members who’ve worked so hard.”
Boeing’s Starliner will undock Friday evening before landing in New Mexico around midnight Saturday.
It'll be unmanned after NASA decided thruster and other issues created too many potential problems.
"If, for some reason, the joint team decides not to undock on Friday," said NASA Flight Director, Anthony Vareha. "We have undocking opportunities on several later days, all of which are subject to weather conditions.”
Wilmore and Williams launched in June for what was supposed to have been a weeklong test flight.
Now, they’ll end up spending eight months on the International Space Station before returning home next February on a Space X flight.
"They’ve transitioned from the role of Starliner test pilots," said NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager, Steve Stich. "Now they’re part of the expedition working day in and day out.”
As of last week, the pair had over 100 hours between them helping onboard the ISS with science and research.
Wilmore’s family previously spoke about his unplanned stay in space.
"He loves being with us because we’re close," said one of his daughters. "And he is missing out on a few things, but he knows it’s in God’s plan.”
NASA said both astronauts are trained to handle hiccups like this and are fully engaged with loved ones and colleagues even from so far away.
A recent meeting between NASA and Boeing over bringing an empty capsule back was said to be “heated.”
One of the NASA officials disputed that Wednesday but he admitted to “tension” given the gravity of the situation.