WASHINGTON: Two American astronauts who have been trapped on the International Space Station since June could return to Earth earlier in March than expected, NASA said Tuesday.
Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to spend eight days on the International Space Station (ISS), but have been there for more than eight months after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered propulsion problems.
The US space agency decided the Starliner would return home without its crew after carrying out weeks of intensive testing and announced in August that it was tasking Elon Musk’s SpaceX with bringing the crew home.
Musk, one of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers, committed to bringing them back to Earth “as soon as possible” at the end of January, with Republicans blaming Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden for the delay.
A SpaceX mission called Crew-9 saw two astronauts arrive at the ISS in September aboard a Dragon spacecraft, with two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams.
But their return was postponed when NASA announced that Crew-10 who was due to relieve them would not be blasting off until the end of March at the earliest.
The mission is now scheduled to launch on March 12 “pending mission readiness,” NASA announced Tuesday, explaining that the change was agreed with SpaceX after adjustments were made to the original plan.
Instead of using a brand new Dragon spacecraft that requires extra processing time, the Crew-10 mission will now use a previously flown one called Endurance.
The astronauts will return to Earth following a handover period of several days, the agency added.
In January, Wilmore and Williams said their spirits were still high, adding that they had plenty of food and were enjoying their time on the space station.
While their protracted stay is notable, it has not yet surpassed Frank Rubio’s record-breaking 371 days aboard the ISS, which he completed in 2023 after the Russian spacecraft designated for his return developed a coolant leak.
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Two astronauts stranded on space station to touch down early
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Two astronauts stranded on space station to touch down early
- Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were due to spend eight days on the International Space Station
- But have been there for more than eight months after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered propulsion problems
Brazil moves closer to curbing Indigenous land claims in constitution
BRASILIA: Brazilian lawmakers moved closer Tuesday toward changing the constitution to limit Indigenous peoples’ rights over their ancestral lands, despite expert claims that they are a key bulwark against global warming.
Land rights for native peoples have been a point of contention in Brazil for years due to the country’s powerful agricultural sector and its allies in the predominantly conservative parliament.
The country has already curbed land claims through the so-called “time frame” rule that means Indigenous peoples can only have protected reserves on lands they physically occupied when the constitution was enacted in 1988.
Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation.
The Senate advanced Tuesday a proposed amendment, by 52 votes to 15, that would enshrine the time frame rule in the constitution itself.
The text now moves to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The vote came ahead of the start of a Supreme Court case centered on the application of the time frame rule in demarcating Indigenous lands.
The court declared the rule unconstitutional in 2023, in a victory for Indigenous movements.
But Congress passed it into law anyway, despite that decision and the vetoes of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil is home to 1.7 million Indigenous people, out of a total population of over 200 million.
Indigenous communities argue that many of Brazil’s native inhabitants were expelled from ancestral homelands throughout the country’s history, particularly during its military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985.
Since returning to power in 2023, Lula has approved 16 Indigenous territories, granting native peoples the right to occupy and exclusively use their natural resources.
Experts say that such territories work as a shield against climate-related threats like deforestation and fires.
Land rights for native peoples have been a point of contention in Brazil for years due to the country’s powerful agricultural sector and its allies in the predominantly conservative parliament.
The country has already curbed land claims through the so-called “time frame” rule that means Indigenous peoples can only have protected reserves on lands they physically occupied when the constitution was enacted in 1988.
Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation.
The Senate advanced Tuesday a proposed amendment, by 52 votes to 15, that would enshrine the time frame rule in the constitution itself.
The text now moves to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.
The vote came ahead of the start of a Supreme Court case centered on the application of the time frame rule in demarcating Indigenous lands.
The court declared the rule unconstitutional in 2023, in a victory for Indigenous movements.
But Congress passed it into law anyway, despite that decision and the vetoes of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Brazil is home to 1.7 million Indigenous people, out of a total population of over 200 million.
Indigenous communities argue that many of Brazil’s native inhabitants were expelled from ancestral homelands throughout the country’s history, particularly during its military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985.
Since returning to power in 2023, Lula has approved 16 Indigenous territories, granting native peoples the right to occupy and exclusively use their natural resources.
Experts say that such territories work as a shield against climate-related threats like deforestation and fires.
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