The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that it will wait until next year to return two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are currently stranded on the International Space Station (ISS), back to Earth aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
“NASA has decided that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return with SpaceX Crew-9 in February of next year, and the Starliner spacecraft will return without a crew,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson shared with the press. The return of the two astronauts has been delayed due to propulsion issues with the Boeing spacecraft, meaning they will have to spend a total of 8 months in orbit, instead of the originally planned 8 days.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
After years of delays in developing the Starliner, the spacecraft finally launched in early June, taking veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams to the ISS. However, while investigating issues with the spacecraft’s engine system, NASA had to indefinitely postpone their return trip.
Engineers at Boeing and NASA are concerned that the Starliner may not have enough thrust to escape orbit and land safely on Earth. NASA officials stated that they opted for a very unusual solution: returning the astronauts not with their spacecraft, but with a SpaceX spacecraft scheduled for February.
According to the new plan, the SpaceX Crew-9 mission will launch at the end of September 2024, but will only carry two passengers instead of the originally planned four. The spacecraft will dock at the ISS and is expected to return in February 2025, bringing the crew members along with the two stranded colleagues back home.
This approach represents a significant blow to the American aerospace giant Boeing, as its aircraft manufacturing division has faced numerous safety and quality control concerns in recent years.
Ten years ago, after the Space Shuttle program ended, NASA contracted new spacecraft from Boeing and SpaceX to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. NASA argued that with two such vehicles, there would always be a backup in case one of them encountered issues. However, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has now outperformed Boeing and has been the sole vehicle used to transport astronauts for the past four years.
The crewed flight of the Starliner this year comes after years of delays and setbacks in its development, and it is considered the final test flight for the spacecraft before it is fully operational. NASA stated that the astronauts aboard the ISS have sufficient supplies, are trained to stay for extended periods, and have many experiments to conduct.
