Having a spacewalk on the docket for Thursday affected the schedule for the first-ever astronaut mission of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, called Crew Flight Test (CFT).
CFT launched with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on June 5. The duo rendezvoused and docked with the ISS a day later, and were scheduled to stay aboard for about a week. But Wilmore and Williams recently had their mission extended several days, and are now expected to return to Earth no earlier than June 18.
NASA announced the delay on Sunday (June 9), citing the need for extra time for the station’s current astronauts to prepare for Thursday’s EVA. The additional days in orbit will also allow Wilmore, Williams and ground teams to perform additional checks of Starliner before the shakedown flight parachutes back down to Earth.