Boeing Starliner may not bring its first astronauts home after all.
NASA officials, absent a representative from Boeing, updated reporters today (Aug. 7) about how troubleshooting Starliner‘s undocking and landing may affect the next SpaceX astronaut flight to the International Space Station.
Starliner has faced a lot of difficulties since launching its first astronaut mission, most especially after 5 of its 28 reaction control thrusters (RCS) misfired during docking with the ISS on June 6. Work on the matter is ongoing, and as NASA revealed yesterday (Aug. 6), it will require the next launch to the ISS to wait. Crew-9, SpaceX‘s ninth operational flight to the ISS designed for four astronauts, will now launch Sept. 24 instead of Aug. 18. That’s because NASA may send only two astronauts up on Crew-9, and bring the Starliner astronauts with the two returning crew sometime around February 2025.
Crew Flight Test (CFT), that Starliner mission, launched June 5 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They were in large part selected due to their developmental experience as former U.S. Navy test pilots.
The duo was supposed to stay in space for roughly 10 days, but it now has been north of 60 and counting. NASA continues to emphasize the astronauts can leave the ISS if an emergency arises, but agency officials sound less certain now that the astronauts will come home on Starliner, as the mission plan called for.
“We’re in a kind of a new situation here, in that we’ve got multiple options,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s space operations mission directorate and a former agency astronaut, said during the briefing. “We don’t just have to bring a crew back on Starliner, for example. We could bring them back on another vehicle.”
Disclaimer
The information contained in South Florida Reporter is for general information purposes only.
The South Florida Reporter assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in the contents of the Service.
In no event shall the South Florida Reporter be liable for any special, direct, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages or any damages whatsoever, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tort, arising out of or in connection with the use of the Service or the contents of the Service. The Company reserves the right to make additions, deletions, or modifications to the contents of the Service at any time without prior notice.
The Company does not warrant that the Service is free of viruses or other harmful components
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://southfloridareporter.com/nasa-considers-sending-boeing-starliner-astronauts-home-on-spacex-dragon-video/&media=https://southfloridareporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Starliner.jpg&description="We're in a kind of a new situation here." as NASA continues to consider ways to get the two astronauts home.){kind=link}