Next year, it is possible that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be traveling back to Earth with astronauts from SpaceX Crew-9.
However, NASA will finally reveal the manner in which Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner, will be returning to Earth on August 24. At the beginning of this month, the agency announced that it had already begun discussions with SpaceX over the prospect of providing the astronauts with two seats on a forthcoming Crew Dragon flight. While the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was ensuring that the option was accessible, it continued to request evidence from Boeing to demonstrate that the Starliner is safe to ride back to Earth. The batteries of the Starliner, on the other hand, will not last forever, and the agency needs to make a decision as soon as possible.
NASA stated in its release that on August 24, its leadership will conduct a final evaluation of the data that Boeing obtained through a variety of ground tests and simulations done by engineers with assistance from Williams and Wilmore. The formal decision will be announced at a news conference that will take place one hour later, at approximately one o’clock in the afternoon Eastern time. You will be able to watch the event on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the website of the agency; however, we will also keep you updated on any significant developments.
After a number of delays, the first crewed mission of the Starliner was successfully launched into orbit as atop an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance in the month of June. Before making its way down to Earth with both astronauts, it was only intended to be docked to the International Space Station for a period of eight days. On the other hand, fifty of its maneuvering thrusters had malfunctioned while it was in transit to the orbiting laboratory. In addition, the helium leak that had led Boeing and NASA to cancel the launch of the spacecraft returned and had become far more severe. Tests and simulations have been carried out on the ground by engineers over the course of the past few months in order to supply NASA with the data that it required. “We are letting the data drive our decision making in relation to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking,” stated Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, back in June. “We are letting the data drive our decision making.”
It is possible that NASA will choose to implement its backup plan, which involves Wilmore and Williams hitching a trip on the Crew Dragon. In this scenario, the Starliner will return to Earth without a crew on board. Despite the fact that it is yet unknown when the Starliner will return to the planet, it is quite likely that the firm could not have asked for a more fortunate return. In addition to the fact that the batteries on the Starliner are running out, Boeing stated earlier this month that it has incurred additional losses of $125 million as a result of the spacecraft’s delayed return. When that time comes, Wilmore and Williams will be returning to Earth as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. This is the same trip that had to be postponed due to the fact that Starliner was still occupying one of the two slots on the International Space Station that are capable of housing crew capsules. Due to the fact that the Crew-9 capsule will not return to Earth until February 2025, the stated eight-day vacation that the astronauts were scheduled to have will really evolve into an eight-month adventure.