Aug. 24 (UPI) – Boeing Starliner crew members Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station since June, will remain there until February, NASA administration announced Saturday.
When weighing whether to allow them to return to Earth aboard their defective Starliner or wait until the completion of the upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon mission in February, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the agency chose the latter for safety reasons.
“Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February,” he announced during a televised press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, adding that the faulty Starliner capsule currently docked to the ISS will be returned to Earth unmanned.
The Crew 9 mission, scheduled for late September, will be carried out with only two crew members instead of four to make room for Wilmore and Williams, who can return with the mission after completion in February.
Nelson said he discussed the situation with new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and praised the company for working closely with NASA to determine whether the Starliner capsule could be safely returned with the stranded astronauts on board. Ultimately, however, he said, concerns about the astronauts’ safety proved insurmountable.
“Remember, we’re looking at this whole discussion against the backdrop of mistakes we’ve made in the past,” Nelson said. “We lost two space shuttles because there wasn’t a culture in place where information could come to light.”
“We have asked all our employees to speak up if they have any objections. Space travel is risky, even at its safest,” he added.
When Wilmore and Williams docked with the ISS on June 6, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft experienced helium leaks and propulsion problems. They were scheduled to return to Earth a week later after testing the Starliner for NASA certification.
In addition, five of the capsule’s engines malfunctioned as it approached the space station. The engine malfunction, which is a separate problem from the helium leaks in the Starliner’s propulsion system, delayed the capsule’s docking.
Wilmore and Williams are now scheduled to spend at least 262 days in orbit before returning to Earth around February 22.
NASA announced that the Starliner’s undocking from the ISS and its unmanned return to Earth will take place remotely on September 6. The long-awaited and ultimately disappointing test flight is scheduled to end with a landing in White Sands, New Mexico.
