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| SpaceX wasn't going to do that extra mission for free; financially it makes more sense to keep Butch and Suni up there for longer than planned than to launch a mission early just to get them home sooner. The module they rode home on had been docked at the ISS since September so the opportunity was definitely there, but that also means another module needs to be brought up to take its place and bringing that schedule ahead may not fit with the overall mission plan. At the end of the day there really wasn't a pressing reason to bring them home earlier. They were both still in good health and the ISS had the capacity for them.
I really struggle about what political motivations there could have been to keep them up there longer, but I don't struggle for a moment as to why the current administration would make such a claim. | |
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Astronaut Rescue
