The first manned flight of Starlinerthe space capsule made by Boeing to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, is proving to be a real odyssey For Sunita Williams And Barry Wilmorethe two NASA astronauts who left on June 5, 2024 for the orbital outpost and are currently stuck in the Space Station. Williams and Wilmore were supposed to stay in the ISS for only 8 days, but they are still there at the moment and, according to the latest updates, they could even return to Earth in February 2025 with a capsule Dragon by SpaceX.
The two American astronauts find themselves trapped in the ISS due to technical problems affecting the Starliner capsule. Already during the flight to the Space Station, the spacecraft recorded three helium leaks, one of which was known even before launch. These leaks can impact the correct functioning of the capsule’s thrusters: in fact, the helium helps the propellant reach the service module’s thrusters. Boeing was confident that the problem would not compromise the capsule’s ability to return to Earth safely, but the thrusters had some malfunctions during docking to the Space Station (which delayed the docking itself). To avoid an unsafe re-entry of the astronauts, the return mission has been postponed more than once and there is currently no talk of a re-entry for Starliner before September 24ththe date on which the launch of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission was postponed precisely to allow Boeing time to repair the Starliner capsule.
But everything depends on whether Starliner’s problems can actually be solved. This option is complicated by the fact that it is still The causes of the malfunctions are not known to the capsule’s thrusters. For this reason, NASA announced on Wednesday, August 7, that it has a official plan B for the return of Williams and Wilmore in the event that the safety of Starliner cannot be guaranteed. In practice, it would come to the rescue SpaceX by Elon Musk: The two astronauts could return with the Dragon capsule of the mission Crew-9 of the American company, and Starliner would be returned autonomously without anyone on board. To complicate matters, however, there is the possibility that Boeing’s capsule at the moment is unable to return independently due to a failed onboard software update. In any case, SpaceX has already stated that the spacesuits for the eventual return trip of Williams and Wilmore would already be ready.
So the astronauts could return at best by the end of September with Starliner if Boeing can solve the problems of the capsule, or directly in February of next year with the SpaceX Dragon. Both options probably not exciting for the two astronauts who left in June who were supposed to return to Earth just 8 days later. The final decision will be made in the next few days, according to NASA around mid-August.
One thing is certain: this story represents a source of embarrassment for Boeing, which was supposed to use Williams and Wilmore’s trip to Certify Starliner for Human Flight thus making Boeing an official competitor of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company has in fact been making its capsules available for the transport of cargo and astronauts to the ISS since 2020. In all this, Boeing, in addition to the damage, could also suffer the mockery to see its “rival” SpaceX bring back the astronauts who were instead supposed to board Starliner.
