SpaceX to Rescue NASA Astronauts, Boeing Ship Returns Empty
They went to the International Space Station for 10 days and will return in eight months on another ship.
NASA’s decision. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the first crew members of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, will return home in February 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Starliner will return to Earth empty in early September.
The decision was made Saturday by NASA leaders after an internal review of Starliner’s failures. Boeing, which was not involved in the vote or the announcement, continues to defend the Starliner spacecraft’s ability to return safely to Earth despite five helium leaks and five booster failures during the flight.
Too much uncertainty. “The bottom line was that there was too much uncertainty with launch vehicles,” said Steve Stich, director of NASA’s commercial crew program. “It was too risky with a crew, so we decided to do it without a crew.”
Five of Starliner’s 28 rocket boosters failed during its final approach to the International Space Station on June 6. All but one were recovered, but Boeing was unable to determine the cause of the failures.
Avoid another Colombia. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has made it clear: The goal is to avoid another Columbia-like disaster.
When the space shuttle Columbia lifted off on January 16, 2003, NASA noticed significant foam emissions but decided to take the risk. During its re-entry on February 1, 2003, the craft broke up in the atmosphere, killing all seven crew members.
What’s the plan? The SpaceX Crew-9 mission, scheduled for August 18, has been rescheduled to no earlier than September 24. Instead of four astronauts, two will be sent to the International Space Station, with two empty seats and two extra spacesuits for Butch and Suni.
The Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth uncrewed and autonomous in early September. Butch and Suni will be part of Expedition 72 on the International Space Station until February 2025, when they are expected to return aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon as members of Crew-9.
As for Boeing. Despite appearances, this is not the final nail in the coffin of Boeing’s Starliner. The $5 billion craft is already under contract for six future missions.
The ship will return to Earth empty, but Boeing is hoping for a successful re-entry. Its engineers will take the opportunity to gather all the data they can about the re-entry maneuvers, especially from the service module (which is jettisoned before re-entry), to ensure the safety of its future crew members.
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