Astronauts 'stuck in space' while their craft is repaired

The Starliner needs some mechanical repairs

Two astronauts are going to be stuck in space for an extra week while crews work to fix the Starliner spacecraft they travelled in.

Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams set off from Florida to the International Space Station (ISS) on 5 June after multiple delays.

They arrived on 6 June and were expecting to stay for seven days. But after helium leaks and thruster failures were discovered - which are devices that help the craft to move - it means they have to stay for longer while repairs take place.

Their return to Earth has been pushed back to 26 June at the earliest.

What is the Starliner?

The Boeing Starliner is a capsule designed to transport crew and equipment into space.

Nasa asked Boeing - which is a private company that makes planes - to develop the Starliner so they could have a US-made spacecraft to transport crew to and from the ISS.

It's made up of two main sections: A reusable crew module, which can fit up to seven astronauts inside, and a service module, with thrusters and engines to power the craft.

The capsule, which is where the astronauts sit, has been designed to be as safe as possible and has an escape system that propels the crew away from the rocket, if there's a problem during launch.

What does the future hold for Starliner?

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will have to wait for a few more days until they can come home

Teething issues with new spaceships aren't uncommon.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are the first crew to fly Starliner, which Boeing and Nasa hope will make regular trips to the ISS in the future.

Another private company, Space X, owned by Elon Musk, has already been making the journey using their own rockets for the past four years.

"We want to give our teams a little bit more time to look at the data, do some analysis and make sure we're really ready to come home," said Steve Stich, manager of Nasa's Commercial Crew Programme.

Until their return, Butch and Suni will be able to live on the ISS which has sleep stations, a gym and even fresh fruit sent up from Earth!