Summary

  • Stranded Nasa astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita Williams say they feel "grateful" to spend more time in space, despite difficulties

  • The two gave a news conference about their experience of being stuck on the International Space Station for months

  • The two Americans, who arrived on the ISS in June, have been unable to get home because of a problem with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft

  • The Starliner returned to Earth earlier this month 'uncrewed' - or with no humans on board - after the journey was deemed too risky for astronauts

  • Nasa say Wilmore and Williams will be brought back to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon craft next year

  • You can watch the astronauts' news conference, which is set to start at 14:15 Eastern Time (18:15GMT), live at the top of this page

Stranded astronaut says feeling let down 'never entered my mind'

Live Reporting

Edited by Caitlin Wilson

  1. The travel horror story from... space

    Everyone has a travel horror story. Many of them involve a flight being cancelled, sometimes for mechanical issues. It’s bad enough when you’re stranded in an airport far from home.

    Now imagine that happening to you... in space.

    That’s the predicament being faced by Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Willmore, two veteran US astronauts who are stuck in the International Space Station because of issues with the experimental Boeing Starliner spacecraft that took them into orbit.

    Today, Willmore and Williams will participate in a news conference from the ISS to talk about their experience. They’ll be beaming in from low Earth orbit to talk about the mission and how they'll likely have to wait until next year to come home.

  2. Astronauts to speak to Earth about their time stuck in space

    Caitlin Wilson
    Live editor

    Nasa astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been unexpectedly living on board the International Space Station for more than three months - and the US agency says it could be another five months before they can return to Earth.

    Wilmore and Williams are set to share their experiences aboard the ISS in a news conference today, which we will follow with text updates and you will also be able to watch live at the top of this page.

    Follow along with us as we bring you the astronauts' words - as well as all the information about how they got up there, why they can't yet get home, and what they're doing to keep busy in space in the meantime.

    Stick with us!