NASA has provided a potentially significant update on the fate of stranded astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams.

Butch and Suni embarked on a low-key eight-day space voyage on the new Boeing Starliner spaceship last June.

However, the couple’s space-trapped status has become well-known due to technological difficulties.

You may imagine that a lengthy stay on the International Space Station (ISS) would be a delightful excursion for two seasoned astronauts, and you’d be correct.

However, there are several drawbacks to spending nearly eight months in space, some of which can harm health.

In a fresh update on the astronauts’ efforts to come home, NASA is allegedly considering moving the rescue operation forward, which might result in Butch and Suni returning to Earth sooner than expected.

According to a story published by Ars Technica, the space agency will replace the spaceship that brought them home.

The couple is presently sharing the ISS with astronauts from the Crew-9 mission, with a rotation ship transporting the Crew-10 crew also serving as a rescue for Butch and Suni.

The ship was scheduled to launch in late February, but continued technical troubles with the spacecraft (SpaceX’s C213 Dragon) meant the group wouldn’t return to Earth until ‘early April.'”.

NASA and SpaceX are collaborating to tackle a battery-related issue with the C213 Dragon vehicle.

Meanwhile, the space agency will allegedly utilize SpaceX’s Endurance spacecraft to transfer crews aboard the ISS, allowing Butch and Suni to return to Earth on March 19, increasing their total stay in orbit to 286 days.

The action comes amid escalating political tensions over the status of the pair’s rescue, with newly elected President Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly debating the forthcoming rescue on social media.

Meanwhile, Suni’s revelation that she is forgetting how to walk has raised fears about the two trapped astronauts’ health.

“I’ve been up here long enough right now that I’m trying to remember what it’s like to walk,” she remarked while fielding questions on life in space from former high school pupils (via CBS).

She added, “I have not walked. I have not sat down. I have not lay down. You do not have to. “You can just close your eyes and float right here.”

Fingers crossed that the duo can schedule a return date for March 19th.