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SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell has announced that her company is ready to work with NASA to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The fate of Wilmore and Williams was decided by NASA today after an agency review concluded that the risk of returning them on Boeing’s Starliner was too high. As a result, NASA will use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon to return the astronauts on the Crew-9 mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in late September.
SpaceX is ready to support NASA to the best of its ability, says Shotwell
Before the Crew 9 Dragon can take off and dock with the ISS, a docking port must be ready for the ship. Currently, the US section of the International Space Station (ISS) has space for two manned vehicles, and in addition to the Starliner, SpaceX’s Dragon is also docked at the ISS for the Crew 8 mission.
To accommodate the Crew-9 Dragon, the Starliner must therefore undock from the ISS. This strict requirement was the deciding factor behind NASA’s decision today, because otherwise the Starliner would have had to spend more than six months on the station and SpaceX’s Crew-8 would have had to undock first.
In her post on X following today’s announcement, SpaceX’s Shotwell shared: “SpaceX is ready to support NASA to the best of its ability.” Before Wilmore and Williams can return to Earth on Dragon, SpaceX will work with NASA to decide which astronauts will not fly to the ISS with Crew-9, as the mission’s original crew included four astronauts. It will then ensure that Dragon’s seats will not impact the mission profile due to the updated crew list.
Another change in the Crew-9 manifest resulting from today’s decision concerns the spacesuits the astronauts will wear when they return to Earth. Since they are different spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner use different suits for the crew. These suits are responsible for regulating the crew’s temperature and ensuring their safety in the event of a drop in cabin pressure due to an anomaly.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon suits are custom-fitted for each astronaut, and during a press conference this morning, NASA officials said they will fly an additional suit to the ISS with Crew-9. They also announced that a spare suit is already on the station and has been successfully tested by the astronauts for proper fit.
August and September are busy months for SpaceX’s crewed missions. After the Crew-9 crew launch, the company will then work with NASA to return the Crew-8 mission to Earth. Before that, SpaceX will launch a private crewed spaceflight mission next week as part of the Polaris program, led by billionaire Jared Issacman. The Polaris Dawn mission will be the first of its kind for SpaceX, as it will take the Dragon to its highest altitude yet for a spacewalk.
