Two NASA astronauts who have been stranded in space since early June will be staying there even longer than planned, as the original days-long journey extends to nearly a year following a much-delayed rescue mission.

The return of astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore has been pushed back for at least another month, to late March at the earliest, due to a delay in launching the SpaceX vehicle carrying the astronauts’ four-person replacement crew. 

The delay will give NASA and SpaceX more time to complete the “new Dragon spacecraft for the mission,” the agency said.

Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore set off for a test flight on Boeing’s Starliner on June 5, in what had been anticipated to be a quick trip to the International Space Station. But the spacecraft’s thrusters malfunctioned, and due to safety concerns, NASA decided to return the Starliner to Earth without the crew — leaving the pair at the space station until the SpaceX capsule could bring them home in February 2025.

With the delay, the pair of hitchhiking astronauts — as well as fellow space station crew members, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, who will shuttle home with them — will wait to return until the crew’s replacements arrive. 

NASA said that keeping the astronauts aboard the space station until their replacements’ arrival will enable a “handover period” that will allow them to “share any lessons learned with the newly arrived crew and support a better transition for ongoing science and maintenance at the complex.”

Asked by the Sun about the astronauts’ reactions to the delay, a NASA spokesman, Jimi Russell, said that the pair are “supportive of the path forward” and “committed to mission success for their expeditions.”

He also noted that both astronauts, along with Mr. Hague, have “previously completed long-duration stays aboard the station.” An average stay at the space station is about six months, he added, though some have stayed longer, with astronaut Frank Rubio holding the record for a single stay of 371 days. 

Astronauts, including Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams, “embark on missions fully aware of the various scenarios that may become reality,” Mr. Russell said Wednesday, “and Suni, Butch, and Nick understood the possibilities and unknowns, including being aboard the station longer than planned.” 

When asked about how NASA is supporting the astronauts’ mental wellbeing while their homecoming is delayed, Mr. Russell directed the Sun to its health resources webpage. There, the agency notes that it provides “individually determined psychological support services for crew members and their families during each mission.” The astronauts also can email and video call their families, receive care packages during supply missions, and speak with a psychologist if needed.

Despite these resources, both astronauts have previously acknowledged that the unexpectedly long trip is taking a mental toll. 

“It’s been quite an evolution over the last three months,” Mr. Wilmore said in September. “It was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through.” 

Ms. Williams, too, recently explained how she had to change her mindset to adapt to the longer stay. She noted that they planned on going to space for “eight to ten days” and that the idea of staying for months was not “really on the top of my mind when we initially signed up for this flight.” 

The long journey has meant months away from their spouses and families and missed holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. Yet the pair has appeared optimistic throughout the process, seeming to make the best of their situation. 

“We’ve become pretty good at making cakes up here,” Ms. Williams told students in a space-to-Earth call earlier this month, referring to birthdays in space. The astronauts put together cinnamon buns for cakes, and topped them with icing and dehydrated berries. 

“The food is good because that’s all we have here,” Ms. Williams said. “I think if I had the choice to have some other food that was what we get back on Earth, like Mom’s home cooking, like Mom’s Thanksgiving, I probably would opt for that.” Instead, the astronauts feasted on dehydrated roasted turkey.

As Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore prepare for an even longer stay in space, NASA has insisted that they are “well stocked with everything the crew needs, including food, water, clothing, and oxygen.”