In June, astronauts Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched into space as part of the joint ‘Starliner’ mission between NASA and Boeing.
Since then, however, the planned 10 day mission has lasted months as issues with the spacecraft have prevented a return to Earth. Now, NASA have said they won’t return until 2025.
What Problems Has The Starliner Faced?
Helium leaks emerged before and after the Starliner’s lift-off. During docking, some RCS jets from the service module failed off. But, most of them were turned back on.
However, leaks have persisted in space and NASA have continued conducting ground tests to evaluate the cause of this.
Potential For Rescue
Looking for a way to rescue the astronauts without using the faulty Starliner, NASA have been considering using an alternate spacecraft for the operation.
Now, NASA say they will use the Crew-9 mission, being conducted with a SpaceX rocket, to rescue the duo.
What is The Crew-9 Mission?
NASA’s Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is set for lift-off in September and would see a crew spend six months in space.
The expedition will launch from the Kennedy Space Center via a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. There would be enough space for Williams and Wilmore to join.
Details of NASA Announcement
Today (Saturday, August 24), NASA announced that the astronauts will not come home via the Starliner but will need to be rescued via another spacecraft.
Prior to the announcement, NASA said their “decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts aboard is expected no earlier than Saturday, August 24, at the conclusion of an agency-level review,”
NASA Were Reluctant To Abandon Original Plan
“It’s clear NASA does not want to deviate from its base plan of using Starliner to come home, and this remains most likely,” said Eric Berger of Ars Technica previously.
“But it is not certain. SpaceX and NASA have been quietly studying launching Crew-9 two astronauts. Suits are available for Butch and Suni,” he added.
Another Headache For Boeing
Boeing faced a series of PR crises in recent months and years after crashes involving it’s 737 Max model, and an incident this January where a door panel blew out mid-flight.
The Starliner mission was supposed to boost their reputation. However, new filings show they have taken $1.6bn in losses from the mission.
Meet The Crew
Barry E. Wilmore, one of the two astronauts aboard the Starliner, previously piloted NASA’s 2009 STS-129 mission and returned to space once again in September 2014 as part of Expedition 41/42.
Meanwhile, pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, began training as an astronaut in 1998 and was launched into space in 2006 via NASA’s STS-116 mission. This latest Boeing mission made Williams the first woman to pilot a spacecraft on its maiden test flight.
Williams Remains Confident
Sunita Williams recently said, “I feel confident that if we had to, if there was a problem with the International Space Station, we can get in our spacecraft and we can dock, talk to our team and figure out the best way to come home.”
She added, “like I’ve said, we’ve practiced a lot, so I have a … real good feeling in my heart that this spacecraft will bring us home.”
Hope For Testing
Boeing’s Mark Nappi previously said the astronauts were being held in space to allow ground tests to establish more information.
He said, “If [tests] comes back and say, ‘Here’s 80% of the solution. And if you just run one more docked hot fire (test on the Starliner in orbit), you’ll get all of the answers’ — then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can obtain that information.”
