NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (right) and Suni Williams wear Boeing spacesuits as they travel from the Neil A. Armstrong Operations Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center to Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, to board a Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for a crewed flight test launch on June 5, 2024.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | AFP | Getty Images
With NASA astronauts staying at the International Space Station much longer than planned, the agency’s leadership on Wednesday acknowledged a possible alternative to Boeing’s Starliner for returning astronauts to Earth.
Still, Boeing’s spacecraft remains the first choice for returning crew members, officials said.
Officials have said the Starliner capsule, Calypso, could return as soon as later this month from its extended stay at the ISS pending the results of tests on its faulty propulsion system. Starliner has now been in space for 36 days, and work being done by NASA and Boeing is continuing. Additional testing in New Mexico before the spacecraft returns.
The first mission Starliner is carrying peopleand NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
“Our first option at this time is to return Butch and Suni aboard Starliner,” NASA commercial crew manager Steve Stich emphasized at a press conference, adding, “At this time, we see no reason to rely on another NASA vehicle, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, to return astronauts.”
Stich acknowledged that SpaceX’s capsule could be part of contingency plans in case Starliner returns empty from the ISS, but noted that NASA has not yet had to “make a decision on whether we need to do anything differently.”
“Obviously, we’ve revisited some of that in relation to Starliner, in case we have to use some of that,” Stich said.
“[But] “There’s actually been no discussion about sending another Dragon to rescue the Starliner’s crew,” Stitch later added.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft “Endeavour” seen from the International Space Station on May 2, 2024.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Boeing and NASA began ground testing of the spacecraft’s thruster technology on July 3 at White Sands, New Mexico, to replicate the problem that caused up to five Calypso thrusters to shut down. As the spacecraft maneuvered to dock with the International Space StationThe ground tests are being conducted to “make sure that all the pulses and heat that we’re putting into it aren’t going to damage the thrusters,” Stich said.
Stich noted that Starliner’s “late July” return is “optimistically” based on the completion of testing. Boeing and NASA teams at White Sands will be inspecting the test thrusters over the next week.
But Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president for the Starliner program, said at a press conference that “so far we have not been able to replicate the temperatures observed during flight.”
“What we’re trying to do with this test is fill in some gaps, because what we’re trying to do is understand whether the thrusters are working. [as expected]That way we can undock and come home. If the thrusters are somehow damaged, how do we handle that?” Nappi said.
“We don’t believe the thrusters were damaged, but we want to fill in the gaps again and do this test to be sure,” Nappi added.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is pictured docking with the International Space Station orbiting above Egypt’s Mediterranean coast on June 13, 2024.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Speaking to reporters from the International Space Station, Wilmore and Williams expressed confidence in the Starliner’s return.
“We believe the testing that we’re doing is what we need to get the right answers and get the data that we need,” Wilmore said.
The Starliner was once SpaceX’s Dragon rivalhas conducted 12 crewed flights to the ISS over the past four years, but has steadily fallen behind due to a variety of setbacks and delays. Starliner in secondary position NASA plans to alternate between flying astronauts on SpaceX and Boeing.
The Starliner crew flight test will be the last major step before NASA gives Boeing the go-ahead to fly a crew on a six-month operational mission, which could begin as early as February.
