NASA is scrambling to figure out how to get a pair of astronauts home from the International Space Station ... after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that took them to the station experienced some stubborn issues.

NASA now says those astronauts might have to ride it out on the space station until the beginning of next year.

KNX news checked in with former NASA astronaut and Columbia University Engineering Professor Mike Massimino.

Massimino downplayed talk of his fellow astronauts being stranded on the Space Station.

An alternative to getting the two astronauts back on Earth would be to fly them on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft ... which raises the question why ... if SpaceX has been reliably operating a space vehicle for several years now ... is the Boeing Starliner important.

Boeing says they've lost over $1-billion developing the Starliner spacecraft.