NASA says astronauts stuck in space will not return on Boeing capsule, will wait for SpaceX craft
NASA will call on SpaceX to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station since early June after their Boeing spacecraft ran into several problems midflight, the agency said Saturday.
NASA will call on SpaceX to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station since early June after their Boeing spacecraft ran into several problems midflight, the agency said Saturday.
The decision for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to hitch a ride back to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, rather than on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that they rode into orbit, puts to rest months of speculation and tension within the space agency over how — and when — the two crew members could safely return. The mission was planned to last about eight days.
“Spaceflight is risky — even at its safest and even at its most routine — and a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday at a news briefing.
The Starliner drama has been a major setback for Boeing's space ambitions, adding to years of struggle to get the capsule off the ground and keep up with rival company SpaceX. Even before Wilmore and Williams launched in June, the Starliner program was more than $1.5 billion over budget and years behind schedule.
Butch Wilmore, top, and Suni Williams, inside the International Space Station, on July 2, 2024.NASA via AFP - Getty ImagesTop NASA officials, including Nelson, gathered Saturday at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to conduct a formal review based on the results of tests done in orbit and on the ground.
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