CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — NASA said Wednesday that it is still deciding whether two astronauts will remain on the International Space Station until early next year and whether their damaged Boeing capsule will be sent back empty.
Instead of flying back to Earth on Boeing’s Starliner, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would fly on SpaceX’s next flight, an option that would keep them on the space station until next February.
The test pilots had expected to be out for only about a week when they became the first crew to lift off on the Starliner. But engine failures and helium leaks marred the capsule’s journey to the space station, raising doubts about its ability to return safely and leaving the astronauts in limbo.
NASA officials said they would analyze more data before making a decision late next week or early next week. These thrusters are critical to keeping the capsule in the right position when it is scheduled to descend from orbit.
“We still have time before we bring Starliner home, and we want to use that time wisely,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s mission manager for space operations.
NASA safety chief Russ DeLoach added: “We don’t have enough knowledge and data to make a simple, unambiguous calculation.”
DeLoach said the space agency wants to accommodate all opinions, unlike the two NASA shuttle tragedies, Challenger and Columbia, when dissenting views were ignored.
“That can sometimes mean we don’t move very quickly because we have to get everything out there, and I think you can kind of see that at work here,” he said.
A move to SpaceX would mean pulling two of the four astronauts scheduled for the next ferry flight, currently scheduled for late September. Wilmore and Williams would fill the empty seats in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule once that six-month mission ends.
Another complication: The space station only has two parking spaces for US capsules. Boeing’s capsule would have to depart before SpaceX’s Dragon arrives to free up a spot.
Boeing is confident that Starliner could still bring the astronauts home safely. The company released a list of engine tests conducted in space and on the ground since launch earlier this month.
NASA wants to keep the current SpaceX crew there until replacements arrive, unless there is an emergency. Those four were supposed to return to Earth this month, but their mission was extended for a seventh month because of uncertainty about Starliner, forcing them to stay there until the end of September. Most stays at space stations last six months, but some stay for a full year.
Wilmore and Williams are retired Navy captains who spent several months aboard the space station years ago. They began working on the space station immediately after their arrival, helping with experiments and repairs.
“They will do what we ask of them. That is their job as astronauts,” said NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba.
He added: “This mission is a test flight, and as Butch and Suni expressed before launch, they knew this mission might not be perfect.”
Desperate to have competing services and backup options, NASA commissioned SpaceX and Boeing to transport astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttles were retired in 2011.
SpaceX’s first astronaut flight took place in 2020. Boeing had such severe problems during its first uncrewed test flight in 2019 that it ordered a repeat. Then more problems arose, costing the company more than $1 billion to fix, before it was finally able to fly astronauts.
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