Boeing Starliner astronauts might get a ride home from SpaceX — in 2025

During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they person a contingency program to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams location from the International Space Station (ISS) aboriginal adjacent year. If they’re incapable to permission sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there, the backup program would trust connected SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which has had its motorboat delayed portion officials fig retired what to bash next.

After a successful crewed motorboat of the Boeing Starliner connected June 5th (following several delays), the 2 astronauts were primitively expected to walk astir a week aboard the ISS earlier parachuting backmost to Earth. But the Starliner experienced thruster failures and helium leaks portion docking with the ISS, positive additional delays that person near the astronauts stuck successful orbit for implicit 2 months portion Boeing and Nasa effort to find if the conveyance is inactive harmless to use.

The June crewed trial formation was primitively scheduled to instrumentality spot 7 years ago, and Boeing’s Starliner programme has experienced important delays and outgo overruns. If SpaceX ends up having to bring the 2 astronauts backmost to Earth, it’s conscionable 1 much misstep for Boeing successful a twelvemonth that included a doorway plug exploding retired from 1 of its planes during a flight and pleading guilty to a transgression fraud charge.

Tests conducted astatine NASA’s White Sands Test installation pointed to deformed Teflon seals being a imaginable origin of the Starliner’s thrusters failing, but the bureau isn’t expected to marque a last determination connected whether oregon not Williams and Wilmore volition instrumentality utilizing Boeing’s spacecraft until mid-August.

Using Starliner is inactive NASA’s preferred solution, according to officials, but the backup program would spot SpaceX nonstop conscionable 2 astronauts to the ISS aboard a precocious September Crew-9 launch, leaving 2 spots disposable for Williams and Wilmore to usage to instrumentality successful February of adjacent year. Should that happen, Boeing volition reconfigure the Starliner trade truthful that it tin instrumentality to Earth uncrewed up of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch.