Two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station still have no return date to Earth. Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams went up in early June, supposedly for a week. It’s now been nearly two months and might last a lot longer.
Wilmore and Williams are both veteran test pilots, chosen for the unique mission because of their experience. It was the first time NASA astronauts have taken a Boeing-made spacecraft, the Starliner, into space. It should have been a historic moment. Instead, it has turned into a publicity nightmare. The Starliner developed issues that are considered unsafe. Now, Boeing and NASA have two astronauts trapped in space.
Last week, NASA and Boeing confirmed that the duo still has no return date. Recently, they have hinted the pair might be stranded on the ISS until 2025. Many astronauts, including both of them, have stayed on the ISS far longer than this before. They are, at least, safe there.
Even so, it is hard to imagine that either is thrilled about their 2025 return date. NASA and Boeing are trying to fix the Starliner. As a backup, they are considering using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which often ferries people from the space station. A final decision will come in mid-August.
Alternative ship
If they do decide to go ahead with the Crew Dragon, they will have to amend their current schedule. At the moment, three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut are booked on the September flight to the ISS. The February 2025 return flight doesn’t have two extra seats, so two of those September astronauts would have to stay home.
The pairing of Boeing and NASA has not been smooth. In 2019, an uncrewed test flight ended in disaster. The Starliner didn’t even reach the ISS because of a software issue. Engineers managed to fix it, but it was not a minor problem. Had astronauts been on board, they would likely have died. Since then, NASA has become more involved in the Starliner program and has been overseeing Boeing’s work.
After the June launch, the Starliner had two main issues. First, five of its thrusters failed. That doesn’t sound great, but at least four have now been fixed. Second, helium leaks into the propulsion system.
These delayed Wilmore and Williams from docking on the ISS and now hinder their return as Boeing and NASA struggle to solve the various problems.
“We don’t understand the issues enough to fix them permanently, and the only way that we can do that is take the time in this unique environment and…run more tests,” said Mark Nappi, commercial crew manager from Boeing.
Grin and bear it. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. Photo: NASA/Frank Micheaux
A public relations muddle
The oddest part is the lack of transparency about what is going on. On a test mission, mistakes occur. The point of a test is to iron out glitches. The initial Apollo rockets and Elon Musk’s Starship faced issues at first. Eventually, these were fixed.
Nappi says he is partly to blame for stating that this would merely be an eight-day mission.
“It’s my regret that we didn’t just say we’re going to stay up there until we get everything done that we want to go do,” he admitted.
Instead, it’s become like the “three-hour tour” meme from the classic Gilligan’s Island TV series.
NASA says the capsule could safely bring the astronauts home in an emergency. But a former astronaut, speaking anonymously to The Atlantic, said there is still a significant risk in using the Starliner to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth.
