Nearly two months have passed since Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) for its first manned test flight. Despite some technical issues that delayed Starliner’s return to Earth, NASA continues to insist that the vehicle is capable of carrying a crew. However, recent reports suggest that NASA is considering alternative plans to return the two astronauts safely.
NASA officials are considering postponing the launch of SpaceX’s Crew 9 mission from August 18 to September 24, and putting two astronauts on the Crew Dragon instead of four, to allow the Starliner crew to take a different vehicle for the return to Earth, anonymous sources told Ars Technica. The move would mark the failure of Starliner’s first voyage to the ISS with astronauts on board, confirming that it was not fit to return a crew to Earth, despite NASA’s attempts to downplay malfunctions with the spacecraft.
The Starliner CST-100 spacecraft launched on June 5 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams. During approach to the ISS, five of the spacecraft’s thrusters failed, and the spacecraft suffered five helium leaks, one of which was identified before launch. The mission was originally scheduled for eight days, but Starliner’s return to Earth has been postponed indefinitely while teams conduct a series of tests to gather more data about the troubled spacecraft.
Despite Starliner being docked to the ISS for an extended period of time, NASA and Boeing have repeatedly maintained that the spacecraft is capable of returning a crew member at any time, and that the additional time in orbit is an opportunity to conduct tests that aren’t possible with a grounded spacecraft. But the space agency and its commercial partners may soon be forced to backtrack, following reports that astronauts Wilmore and Williams will return aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
NASA officials said at a July 10 press conference that Starliner will need to separate from the ISS before the launch of the Crew 9 mission, scheduled for August. “The best option right now is to return Butch and Sonny aboard Starliner,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, told reporters at the July press conference. “At this point, we don’t see any reason why we can’t do that.”
At the time, NASA had hoped to have the Starliner crew return by the end of July. That deadline has passed, and the agency is now reportedly considering postponing the Crew 9 launch.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew 9 mission includes three NASA astronauts and one Roscosmos astronaut and is scheduled to stay on the ISS for six months. However, sources reportedly told Ars Technica that there is a more than 50% chance that astronauts Wilmore and Williams will have to return on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft due to ongoing discussions about the feasibility of the Starliner spacecraft. As of last weekend, there was still no consensus among those responsible for making the decision, and the main concern is that the root cause of the thruster failure has yet to be identified, an anonymous source told CNBC.
Sending back an empty Starliner would be a major blow to NASA and its commercial partner Boeing, further eroding confidence in a spacecraft marred by delays and malfunctions. SpaceX has launched eight astronauts to the ISS so far and is preparing to launch a ninth, pending a final decision on whether the Starliner is capable of returning a crew to Earth safely.
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