On Friday, NASA removed two astronauts from the upcoming crew to make space on the return flight for two others currently stuck on the International Space Station. NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch aboard a SpaceX rocket in September, heading to the orbiting lab. They will return in February with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were deemed at risk to fly back in their Boeing Starliner capsule due to thruster issues and helium leaks.

Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, the NASA astronauts bumped from the SpaceX mission, may be assigned to future flights. NASA considered spaceflight experience and other factors when making this decision.

Up until SpaceX started accepting humans in 2020, the US had to rely on Russia to transport crews to the space station when the shuttles were retired. The two nations have persisted in exchanging seats. NASA's Tracy Dyson will be returning to Earth on Russian capsules next month, while Don Pettit will be going to the space station.

A decade ago, in order to ensure that two rival US corporations would transport astronauts in the post-shuttle period, NASA looked to the private sector.

When Williams and Wilmore arrived to the space station in June for a planned week-long stay, they became Boeing's first crew members. As early as Friday of next week, their capsule will return empty and make its way towards the New Mexico desert for a touchdown.