Boeing Starliner: NASA to Deal with Delayed Astronaut Returns

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Now, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — two veteran NASA astronauts piloting the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — have spent 63 days in space, nearly seven weeks longer than initially expected.

There is no clear return date in sight yet.

While analysis continues to understand the problems Starliner encountered on its way to the International Space Station, NASA confirmed during a press conference Wednesday that it is considering various contingency options. These include keeping Williams and Wilmore on the orbiting lab for another six months and returning them home aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in 2025.

CNN confirmed Tuesday that NASA has not yet begun a “flight readiness review” of the Starliner crew returning from the space station. The agency said on July 26 that it would begin the process in the first two days of August.

But Boeing and NASA teams are still working to determine a possible return date as officials evaluate test data and conduct analysis on the propulsion issues and helium leaks that have dogged the Starliner capsule’s first stage. Ground tests conducted by mission teams in New Mexico as they work to understand the problems have yielded surprising results, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said Wednesday.

The space agency had previously confirmed that it had found excess heat around some of the Starliner’s thrusters that was causing Teflon seals to bulge, restricting fuel flow and causing engine problems. Officials revealed at the press conference that uncertainty over whether those bulging seals were the root cause of the problem — and how the problem might affect the Starliner in space — is at the heart of NASA’s internal disagreements over how safe it is to return crews aboard the Starliner.

The return of the Starliner spacecraft remains uncertain, as officials work to reach an agreement on how to carry out the rest of the mission that launched on June 5.

“I would say our chances of an uncrewed return have increased a little bit based on what’s happened over the last week or two,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Directorate, referring to NASA’s internal reviews that must be completed before a Starliner return date can be set. “But again, as new data comes in, new analysis, different discussions, we may find ourselves moving in a different direction.”

NASA has long considered returning Williams and Wilmore on SpaceX as an emergency option for the mission, but the primary goal is to bring the astronauts home on Starliner. Maintains That its spacecraft is safe for astronauts.

However, the space agency announced Tuesday that it had postponed the launch of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, a routine flight that was scheduled to fly four astronauts to replace the Crew-8 mission aboard the International Space Station.

The Crew 9 spacecraft was scheduled to launch on Aug. 18, with the Starliner capsule expected to return to Earth with the astronauts before that date. Now, the Crew 9 spacecraft won’t launch until Sept. 24, NASA said.

“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to complete return planning for the agency’s Boeing crewed flight test,” NASA said in a statement Tuesday. New release.