HOUSTON – NASA announced Saturday that a test flight originally scheduled to last just over a week will end with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returning home without any astronauts. Instead, a backup vehicle will be sent to the International Space Station to bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth.
The duo originally launched from Florida’s Space Coast in early June, but while in orbit and docking with the ISS, engineers discovered helium leaks and problems with the engines, prompting NASA and Boeing to investigate.
The investigation included ground tests at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to replicate the problems, which both NASA and Boeing classified as minor.
NASA management even went so far as to say it would use the spacecraft in an emergency, but analysis in the weeks that followed undermined the assurances of those involved that the vehicle was a viable option for returning astronauts home.
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Due to uncertainties surrounding the spacecraft, NASA announced that Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth as part of a future SpaceX mission.
“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight is inherently neither safe nor routine. Our decision to keep Butch and Suni on board the space station and bring Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
These changes in the itinerary mean that the composition of SpaceX Crew 9 will have to be changed and a launch from Florida’s Space Coast is unlikely to take place before September.
Under the revised plan, the original four-person crew could be reduced to make room for the two astronauts stranded on board the ISS, whose return is expected in February 2025.
Until their departure, Wilmore and Williams will continue to conduct experiments aboard the space station while they wait for additional supplies and customized suits for their return flight to Earth.
Astronauts waiting to return to Earth could return on a SpaceX spacecraft, NASA says
Despite these problems, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager, recently said he sees a “bright future for Starliner,” but it remains to be seen whether the spacecraft will ever fly again.
The Boeing program suffered years of delays and incurred losses of over a billion dollars, according to documents from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The news surrounding the Starliner comes as the Fortune 500 company tries to put a turbulent few years behind it, including acknowledging design flaws in the 737 MAX, blowing a door stopper off a plane in mid-flight, restructuring its senior leadership team including the CEO and alerting whistleblower investigators to manufacturing practices at some of its plants.
NASA, for its part, is sticking to its desire for at least two vehicles stationed in the United States that can transport astronauts to the ISS, as there has only been one since 2020.
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A successful launch and landing of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner would likely have paved the way for the spacecraft to become the second certified vehicle to transport crew and supplies to the ISS.
Behind the scenes, NASA and Boeing were already preparing for the first post-certification mission, which was scheduled to carry four astronauts to the ISS in August 2025 – a date and mission that now both appear to be in jeopardy.
NASA management said it was too early to assess what impact this would have on future Starliner flights, as a review of the spacecraft’s flightworthiness would likely take several months.
Although at least two other private US space companies have expressed interest in conducting manned missions to the ISS, Elon Musk’s Dragon spacecraft is currently the only certified vehicle suitable for use by NASA.
Source of the original article: Stranded astronauts will not return from the space station on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, NASA admits
