So now that the Boeing Starliner is returning to Earth empty and the next crewed mission to the shuttle will need to be two astronauts short, who are the two astronauts staying home this month?
NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson will not make the September 24 flight, but they are most likely going to go on later missions.
While we await their future flights, NASA has a profile page on each of them that you can review (as well as the other NASA astronauts, Nick Hague, who remains on this month’s flight):
– Zena Cardman: Zena Cardman was selected by NASA as a member of the 2017 “Turtles” Astronaut Class. The Virginia native holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology and a Master’s of Science in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focused primarily on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Cardman’s experience includes multiple Antarctic expeditions.
–Nick Hague: Col. Tyler N. Hague was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2013. The Kansas native earned a Bachelor of Science in astronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1998, and a Master of Science in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000. Selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2013, Hague completed astronaut candidate training in July 2015. During his first mission to the International Space Station in 2018, he and his crewmate Alexey Ovchinin, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, experienced a catastrophic rocket booster malfunction that resulted in the launch abort of their Soyuz MS-10. In 2019, Hague launched on Soyuz MS-12 and served as Flight Engineer on the International Space Station for 203 days during Expedition 59 and 60. During 2020-2022, Hague completed a developmental rotation with the United States Space Force, serving as the new military service’s Director of Test and Evaluation at The Pentagon in Washington D.C. He returned to NASA in August 2022 to work on the Boeing Starliner Program. Hague is currently training for his second spaceflight, where he will serve as commander for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
–Stephanie Wilson: Stephanie D. Wilson is a veteran of three spaceflights, STS-121 in 2006, STS-120 in 2007, and STS-131 in 2010 and has logged more than 42 days in space. Born in Boston, she attended high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, earned her Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science from Harvard University in 1988, and earned her Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering in 1992 from the University of Texas at Austin. Wilson has served as the Space Station Integration Branch Chief from 2010 to 2012, the Mission Support Crew Branch Chief from 2018 to 2020, and Deputy of the Assigned Crew Branch from 2021-2023. In 2013, she completed a 9-month detail to NASA’s Glenn Research Center as the Acting Chief of Program and Project Integration in the Spaceflight Systems Directorate.
Delays and changes seem to be the norm at NASA, but there are plenty of missions coming up that should keep all of the astronauts busy.
The good news is that the crewed resupply flight this month will also be supplying the two stuck astronauts with supplies, including clothing and pressure suits. I hope their families were also able to throw in a few fun items as well to keep their spirits up.
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