Aug 24 – (CNN/GNA) — A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will bring home two NASA astronauts who have remained on board the International Space Station for about 80 days because of issues plaguing the Boeing Starliner spacecraft — marking a stunning turn of events for the beleaguered aerospace giant.
The news comes after the space agency held a formal review on Saturday to determine whether it would deem Boeing’s Starliner vehicle safe enough to return home with its crew — or if SpaceX’s workhorse Crew Dragon spacecraft would have to step in to save the day.
The Starliner vehicle, which carried astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the space station in early June, suffered setbacks with helium leaks and thrusters that abruptly stopped working on the initial leg of its first crewed test flight. Engineers spent weeks attempting to better understand the issues, and Boeing said as recently as August 2 that its “confidence remains high” that the spacecraft would be able to return Williams and Wilmore to Earth.
NASA revealed during an August 7 news briefing, however, that discussions within the space agency about the Starliner capsule’s safety had evolved — prompting the federal agency to more seriously consider flying the astronauts home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle, which has flown about a dozen crewed mission to space since 2020.
On Saturday, Nelson said NASA considered its extensive experience with spaceflight — both successful and unsuccessful — when making the decision. A poll of NASA representatives was unanimous, according to agency officials.
“We have had mistakes done in the past: We lost two space shuttles as a result of there not being a culture in which information could come forward,” Nelson said. “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine. And a test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine.”
SpaceX is already slated to execute a routine mission to the International Space Station, carrying four astronauts as part of standard crew rotations aboard the orbiting laboratory. But the mission, called Crew-9, will now be reconfigured to carry two astronauts on board instead of four.
That adjustment will leave two empty seats for Williams and Wilmore to occupy on the Crew-9 flight home. The astronauts will also join the Crew-9 team, becoming part of the official ISS expedition. With that transition, Williams and Wilmore will remain on-site for an additional six months — the length of a routine mission to the space station.
The reassignment to Crew-9 will push the duo’s return to February 2025 at the earliest.
Starliner, however, will fly home empty. If its uncrewed return trip goes well, NASA will then be faced with a critical decision: whether to grant Starliner official certification for human spaceflight — a step that would set up the vehicle to make routine trips to orbit — despite the fact that it did not complete its mission as intended.
No Boeing representatives were present at Saturday’s news conference. NASA indicated there was “a little disagreement in terms of the level of risk” compared with Boeing’s assessment, and the space agency did need work on its relationship with the company.
However, Nelson added, he is “100%” sure Boeing will address the issues and set up Starliner for another crewed mission at some point in the future.
Five of the Starliner’s 28 “reaction control thrusters” quit working during the first stretch of Boeing’s test mission. All but one were eventually recovered.
And while Williams and Wilmore expected to spend only eight days in space, their stay aboard the orbiting lab has already been extended by roughly two months as engineers on the ground have worked to better understand the thruster problems.
GNA/Credit: CNN