NASA Considers Return Flight With SpaceX: Astronauts Still Stuck On ISS

NASA Considers Return Flight With SpaceX
Astronauts still stuck on the International Space Station

August 8, 2024, 3:07 AM

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The two NASA astronauts were actually supposed to be deployed to the International Space Station for only a week. But the Starliner capsule has been having problems, and the two have been waiting at the space station for more than two months. They may not be able to return to Earth until next year.

Due to problems with the troubled Starliner spacecraft, two NASA astronauts must prepare for several more months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They arrived at the ISS more than two months ago on a mission that was actually scheduled to last about a week. NASA said in a press conference that there is no set date for their return yet.

Two options in particular are currently under discussion: first, the originally planned return of astronaut Suni Williams and her colleague Barry Wilmore aboard the Starliner. But for this to happen, the problems that arose with the engines and helium leaks still need to be clarified and finally eliminated, which has not yet happened.

The second possibility is that Starliner could return to Earth without a crew. However, this would also require extensive software reconfiguration. The launch of Crew 9 with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which was postponed from August to September due to all these difficulties, could then only be carried out with two astronauts instead of four. Williams and Wilmore would be part of this crew and would return to Earth with their colleagues in February 2025.

“Willing to do whatever it takes.”

Williams and Wilmore are currently providing significant assistance with activities aboard the International Space Station and are involved in all discussions, NASA Administrator Steve Stich said. “They are ready to do whatever it takes.” A final decision on how to proceed will likely be made by mid-August.

Starliner is a partially reusable spacecraft consisting of a capsule about three meters high for the crew and a service module, and unlike Elon Musk's SpaceX's Crew Dragon, it does not land on water but on land.

The spacecraft launched on its first crewed test flight in early June from Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida after years of delays. In May 2022, Starliner completed its first successful unmanned flight to the International Space Station, spending four days there. It will eventually be used as an alternative to the Crew Dragon space capsule to transport astronauts to the ISS.