On August 24, NASA finally announce Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner, will come home. Earlier this month, the agency said it did is already in negotiations About SpaceX possibly giving astronauts two seats on the upcoming Crew Dragon mission. Although NASA was convinced that this option existed, it continued to ask Boeing for information to prove that it was safe for the Starliner to return to Earth. The Starliner’s batteries won’t last forever, and the agency must decide soon.
In it announcementNASA said that on August 24, its management will conduct a final examination of the data collected by Boeing through various ground tests and simulations by engineers assisted by Williams and Wilmore. An hour later, at around 1:00 PM ET, he will hold a press conference to announce his official decision. You can watch the event NASA+NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube and the agency’s website, but we’ll keep you updated as well.
Starliner’s first crewed mission burst through the void aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in June after several delays. He was to remain on the ISS for only eight days before returning home with both astronauts. However, during the flight to the orbiting laboratory, its five maneuvering thrusters failed. The helium leak that caused Boeing and NASA to clean up the launch has also returned and gotten worse. Over the past few months, engineers passed the tests and simulations on the ground to provide NASA with the information it wants. “We’re letting the data drive our decision-making about managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking.” he said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, in June.
If NASA decides to go with the backup plan of carrying Wilmore and Williams aboard Crew Dragon, the Starliner will return to Earth without a crew on board. It’s still unclear when the Starliner will return to the planet, but it likely won’t be soon enough for the company. Aside from the Starliner’s batteries running out, Boeing informed earlier this month, it took another $125 million in losses due to a delay in the spacecraft’s return. Wilmore and Williams will later return home as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. it was necessary to delay because the Starliner still occupied one of the two slots on the ISS that could accommodate astronaut capsules. The Crew-9 capsule won’t fly back to Earth until February 2025, so the astronauts’ eight-day trip will turn into an eight-month period.
