The fate of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station since June 5 due to a series of technical problems with Star Starliner, the new spacecraft that Boeing has built to carry crews into orbit, will be decided tomorrow. A decision-making committee, with NASA chief Bill Nelson in charge, will meet today to weigh the difficult issue and see whether the two should return aboard that spacecraft, or prepare for a longer wait to return home with rival SpaceX.
The latter solution would not only create a new public relations headache for Boeing, but could also mean that astronauts would spend a total of eight months in orbit, instead of the original eight days. A press conference is scheduled for 7 p.m., presumably to announce its verdict. After years of delays in the development of the Starliner, the spacecraft finally lifted off in early June, carrying Wilmore and Williams, both veteran astronauts, to the ISS.
The capsule was originally intended to return them to Earth after eight days in space, but NASA put their return on hold indefinitely while it studied problems with the craft’s propulsion system. The unusual option of returning them aboard a SpaceX vehicle is now being explored, but that is scheduled for February. Boeing and NASA engineers have spent weeks conducting extensive tests of the Starliner’s systems, trying to get to the root of the problem.
Their concern is that the craft might not have the propulsive power to tear itself out of orbit and begin its descent toward Earth. If NASA experts decide that the Starliner is unsafe, the craft would return without passengers. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission would then lift off in late September, but carrying only two passengers instead of the four originally planned. It would remain docked at the ISS until its scheduled return in February, bringing back its crew members plus their two stranded colleagues.