Why Starliner's Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore were not on board the SpaceX capsule that returned to Earth

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A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying four members of the Crew-8 mission departed from the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday after an interstellar stay of 235 days, marking the Elon Musk-led company's longest human mission. Splashing down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, just before 3:30 am ET on Friday, October 25, the spacecraft safely landed in the Gulf of Mexico. However, this capsule, too, did not have any room for NASA’s stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who left the home plant in June, believing they would be back home about one week later.

The NASA duo has since faced a series of setbacks that commenced with helium leaks and thruster malfunctions tied to their Boeing Starliner, which lifted off on June 4. Over four months later, Williams and Wilmore are still very much a point of interest as the world awaits their return to Earth. In August, NASA ultimately raised its hands in defeat, signalling that they wouldn’t return aboard the Starliner. Despite the rumoured tensions that possibly shaped into a rift between the US government agency and Boeing, NASA firmly established that it was dedicated to preserving its astronauts’ well-being above everything else.

And so, the Starliner spacecraft embarked on its journey home, unmanned, as it returned without its original crew members on September 6. In the meantime, Williams and Wilmore await the fruition of NASA’s new rescue mission for them, which eventually enlisted Musk’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which had yet to depart for the space station. With two seats empty on board the Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA’s Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the SpaceX capsule lifted off on September 28. Two other astronauts, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, were meant to take off for the ISS with Hague and Gorbunov. Alas, their interstellar journey was not meant to be, as the company had to make room for the stranded astronauts, whose homecoming is currently slated for not before February 2025.

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore not on board the SpaceX Crew-8 mission spacecraft landing on October 25

Why didn’t Williams and Wilmore board the early-leaving Crew-8 mission spacecraft that could have brought them home today? The reason is simple: they were not assigned to the spacecraft. This mission’s capsule had already been assigned two four NASA astronauts, Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos’ Alexander Grebenkin, leaving no room for anyone. The Crew-8 members launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket on March 4, three months before Williams and Wilmore’s now-beleaguered spacecraft launched on an Atlas V rocket, marking the Starliner’s first crewed takeoff to the ISS

As of now, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have spent more than 18 weeks on the ISS. With another four or five months remaining before they join their two Crew-9 members on board the Crew Dragon, the pair is hard at work. According to CNN, they’ve joined Expedition 72, the international crew of astronauts serving as the ISS’ official staff.

What are the stranded NASA astronauts up to on the ISS?

During a September 22 ceremony, the Indian-origin astronaut even became the commander of the space station for the second time. Having spent all this time there, the NASA pair has warmed up to regular duties on the space station, naturally mingling with other staffers.

They’ve also been assigned their respective spots, and their responsibilities have doubled as part of the Crew-9 mission. Williams and Wilmore will participate in customary crew work, resulting in spacewalks outside the ISS and other science experiments.

Dana Weigel, NASA’s manager of the ISS Program, also announced during an early August briefing that they had already ensured that they had the “right resources, supplies and training for the crew” if they had to extend their stay on the ISS, especially since the Starliner’s journey was a test flight.

“Butch and Suni are fully trained,” Weigel further noted. “They’re capable and current with EVA (spacewalks), with robotics, with all the things we need them to do.”

Now that Crew-8 has safely landed on Earth, Crew-9's Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, and their new crewmates Williams and Wilmore will help switch their capsule to the port that opened up after Crew-8 undocked from the space station. NASA’s recent updates revealed that the OG Starliner astronauts had invested their time in training for the task.

An October 18 update revealed, “Williams spent her shift in the Quest airlock cleaning cooling loops on a spacesuit and checking the suit’s other components.” Meanwhile, “ Wilmore set up the Sphere Cam-2 and filmed activities in the Destiny laboratory module in ultra-high resolution testing its ability to provide highly detailed mission imagery on future missions.”

North Korea claims ‘troop deployment to Russia’ conforms to international law

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North Korea said Friday that any troop deployment to Russia would be in line with international law, state media reported, but stopped short of confirming it had sent soldiers.

"If there is such a thing that the world media is talking about, I think it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law," said Kim Jong Gyu, vice foreign minister in charge of Russian Affairs, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Seoul and Washington have accused the nuclear-armed North Korea of sending thousands of troops to Russia, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying they could be sent into battle as early as Sunday.

Seoul, which has long accused the North of sending vast shipments of weapons to Russia, has pointed to videos circulating online which appear to show North Korean soldiers in Russian uniforms at military bases in the Far East.

North Korea's representatives at the United Nations have dismissed the claims.

In the first mention of the issue in North Korean state media, vice foreign minister Kim Jong Gyu said he had "heeded the rumour of the dispatch of Korean People's Army troops to Russia".

North Korea's Foreign Ministry "does not directly engage in the things of the Ministry of National Defence, and does not feel the need to confirm it separately," he said.

Were it to exist, "it will be an act conforming with the regulations of international law," he said.

"There will evidently exist forces which want to describe it as illegal one," Kim added.

South Korea has slammed the deployment of troops, calling on Russia to stop "illegal cooperation" with Pyongyang, and warned it would review its stance on providing weapons directly to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Domestic policy bars Seoul from selling weaponry into active conflict zones, but the country -- a top arms exporter -- has already sold billions of dollars of tanks, howitzers, attack aircraft and rocket launchers to Poland, a key ally of Kyiv.

Israel strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter kills 17, hospital says

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An Israeli airstrike on a school building in central Gaza has killed at least 17 people, according to a local hospital.

Al-Awda hospital told AFP and Reuters that the strike on Thursday hit the Al-Shuhada school in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Hamas-run government media office reported the same death toll and said the school was being used as a shelter for displaced people.

Videos from the scene, verified by the BBC, show wounded children being carried out in the arms of men.

Israel said it had targeted a Hamas command centre at the site "used by the terrorists to plan and execute terrorist attacks" against Israel and its troops.

The government media office said "thousands of displaced people” were using the school as a shelter when the strike hit, “most of them children and women".

Nine children were among the 17 killed, with more than 52 injured, the media office added.

Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for Gaza's civil defence agency, also told AFP that 17 people were killed and dozens wounded.

In recent weeks, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has hit several buildings being used as shelters across Gaza, saying it was targeting Hamas personnel and infrastructure.

Israel does not allow international media organisations - including the BBC - independent access to Gaza, making it difficult to verify facts on the ground, so we rely on information from video footage and testimonies, as well as Israeli and Hamas official statements.

In northern Gaza, the IDF has been intensifying a weeks-long offensive against what it said were Hamas fighters who had regrouped there.

At least 650 people have been killed since the new offensive in the north began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The Israeli military said it was facilitating evacuations of civilians while it continued “operating against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”.

But residents unwilling or unable to comply with Israeli evacuation orders are said to be living in increasingly desperate conditions, with food and other essential supplies running out.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that during the first three weeks of October, Israeli authorities permitted only four out of 70 coordinated aid missions to north Gaza.

The US warned Israel last week to urgently boost aid or risk having some military assistance cut off.

Cogat, the Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian affairs in Gaza, said that trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies had been transferred to the north over the past week.

OCHA said earlier this week that humanitarian access remains restricted.

The final stage of an emergency polio vaccination campaign in the area has been postponed by UN agencies because of intense Israeli bombardments, mass displacement and lack of access.

The last phase of the two-stage rollout - prompted by Gaza’s first case of polio in 25 years, which left a baby boy paralyzed - was due to begin on Wednesday.

Almost 120,000 children in northern Gaza had been expected to receive a second dose of the oral polio vaccine.

News Source: BBC News

World Test Championship Points Table After South Africa Beat Bangladesh In first Test

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South Africa have climbed to fourth spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings after a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first Test on Thursday. The Proteas improved their point-percentage to 47.62 with the victory, which helped them jump over New Zealand and England and take fourth place on the standings. Bangladesh's loss sees their point-percentage drop to 30.56 and they continue to languish in seventh place with India and Australia still remaining in the top two spots on the standings.

Bangladesh's Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bat first but the decision backfired as South Africa's pacers and spinners thrived in favourable conditions, bowling out Bangladesh for a mere 106. Kagiso Rabada, Wiaan Mulder, and Keshav Maharaj each claimed three wickets.

Bangladesh's spinners fought back, with Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan sharing seven wickets between them. However, a resilient century from Kyle Verreynne, supported by Mulder (54) and Dane Piedt (32), helped South Africa build a commanding 202-run lead.

In the third innings, South Africa's bowlers, led by Rabada, once again dominated, reducing Bangladesh to 112/6. Mehidy Hasan (97) offered strong resistance, forming crucial partnerships with the lower order to push the total to 307. Rabada ended with impressive figures of 6/46, his best in Asia.