NASA has announced that astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth in February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight, in a fresh blow to air manufacturer Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
The decision comes after the Starliner experienced mechanical issues during its first crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in June. The spacecraft was originally intended to carry the astronauts back to Earth, but NASA has opted for the SpaceX alternative due to the risks involved.
The US space agency, in a press conference, announced that it will return the Starliner to Earth without Suni and Butch aboard the spacecraft.
The decision on Starliner was a result of “a commitment to safety,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “Our core value is safety and it is our North Star,” he told reporters on Saturday.
The two astronauts, who arrived at the ISS on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner test flight on June 6, were originally to remain for roughly a week. They’re now facing an eight-month stay in orbit.
This latest setback for Boeing follows a string of mishaps and lawsuits, including a recent incident where a panel blew out of a 737 Max 9 jetliner mid-flight. The manufacturer is burning through more than $1 billion in cash a month as it has dozens of new planes sitting outside factories in need of parts, according to a report last month by The Wall Street Journal.
Why Elon Musk’s SpaceX?
In recent times, NASA has chosen more than one company when procuring space transport services, giving it options if one of them fails to deliver.
Elon Musk has been working on the Starship design for years. It resembles rocket ships from the golden age of science fiction and is an important part of the entrepreneur's long-term aspirations to settle humanity on Mars.
NASA originally picked both Boeing and SpaceX to have separate options for getting people to and from the ISS. That way, if one was grounded because of a problem, NASA still had an American-made vehicle to staff the ISS.
A decade ago, NASA initiated its commercial crew program with the goal of having two competing US companies ferry astronauts in the post-shuttle era. Boeing secured the larger contract, worth over $4 billion, compared to SpaceX's $2.6 billion.
If Starliner lands safely without a crew on board, NASA may still consider certifying it for future crewed missions. Nelson said he is “100 per cent” certain that Starliner will fly again.
Starliner Mission Hit by Technical Issues
Astronauts Williams and Wilmore made history on June 5 by becoming the first crew to journey to space on board Boeing's Starliner vehicle. However, their mission was marred by technical difficulties, including a helium leak detected before launch.
NASA and Boeing ultimately determined the mission could continue without fixing the source of the leak.
However, as Starliner attempted to dock with the space station, additional helium leaks occurred, and a number of the vehicle's thrusters — engines the capsule uses to maneuver through space— failed and had to be rebooted. However, Starliner was still docked on June 6.
Although the vehicle successfully docked, engineers have been conducting tests and analysing data to determine the cause of the thruster failures. Ground tests at NASA's White Sands facility have also been inconclusive, leading to varied opinions within NASA regarding the vehicle's reliability and whether Starliner was dependable enough to bring Wilmore and Williams home.
On Saturday, after repeated delays for additional analysis, Nasa said one of the key factors in its decision was uncertainty over how the thrusters would behave on the return to Earth.
