In this photo, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docks at the International Space Station operating above the Mediterranean coast of Egypt on June 13, 2024.
NASA
NASA plans to decide soon whether astronauts will return boeing company‘s Starliner caught fire — or swerved SpaceX as rescue option -A decision will be made in about a week, agency leaders said Wednesday.
“By about mid-August, we need to make a decision on Starliner’s return plan,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew project manager, said at a press conference.
NASA did not specify whether mid-August refers to a specific date, such as August 16, or a broader date.
The deadline for the agency to make a decision depends on the timing of the next crewed launch. NASA on Tuesday delayed the launch of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission by a month to September 24 to buy itself more time to figure out what’s going on with the Starliner.
“I don’t think we’re that far away from making that decision,” NASA Associate Administrator Ken Powersocks said earlier in the meeting.
NASA leadership confirmed there has been no internal decision within the agency on whether to stick with plans to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back on Starliner or fly the Boeing capsule empty Come down and use SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to bring astronauts back to Earth.
The Starliner capsule “Calypso” has now stayed in space for 64 days, and its mission has been extended indefinitely, while Boeing and NASA are conducting tests to try to find the root cause of the spacecraft’s multiple failures. Thruster failure during docking.
Bowersocks confirmed that the agency believes there is a “fairly widespread” “additional risk” that more thrusters could fail without warning as the capsule returns.
“We have to compare all of those risks and weigh all of them in making the final decision,” Powersox said.
Officials used the word “uncertainty” 18 times during Wednesday’s news conference, a strong indication of the current feeling within NASA.
Three return methods
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule Endeavor is visible from the International Space Station, illuminated by the spacecraft’s navigation lights and engine plumes.
NASA
NASA has been preparing three possible plans for Wilmore and Williams’ return.
The first mission will see the pair aboard the Starliner spacecraft and launch SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission with its planned crew of four.
The second was to return Starliner empty and remove the two astronauts from the Crew-9 mission. The mission was scheduled for a typical six-month mission aboard the International Space Station and will fly back in February as scheduled, with Wilmore and Williams returning randomly. NASA declined to say which astronauts would be taken off Crew-9.
The third option is to have Starliner return empty and continue to launch four people on the Crew-9 mission. This means that Wilmore and Williams will return separately, with one returning with the Crew-8 mission after the Crew-9 launch and the other returning with the Crew-9 mission in February. The selection will represent the first time SpaceX will carry five passengers on its Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Boeing continues to prove to NASA that the Starliner is safe, and the company has even issued a public appeal for the number of thruster tests it has completed.
But given the inconclusive results of the tests so far, NASA remains unconvinced, and the agency’s debate is expected to continue into the coming days. If the agency committee responsible for the commercial crew program cannot reach consensus, the decision may ultimately fall to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
