After years of setbacks, Boeing finally launched the Starliner crewed demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in June. This mission was supposed to be a quick trip to space and back, lasting just eight days. However, glitches on Starliner have extended the mission for monthswith astronauts Wilmore and Williams cooling the heels on the ISS. NASA insists the crew will return home on Starliner, but a new report suggests the SpaceX Dragon may have to come to the rescue.
Boeing's Starliner development has been plagued by problems from the moment it reached the launch pad. A series of leaks and valve problems Previous launch attempts have failedand the uncrewed demonstration flight had to be repeated after a software glitch caused the spacecraft to… He missed his rendezvous with the ISSThere were signs in the run-up to the crewed test flight that Starliner was not up to the task. A small but persistent Helium leak on the floor blossomed into five leaks en route to the station, and five of the vehicle's thrusters shut down during approach. NASA opted to keep Starliner docked for a while while Boeing investigated.
As days turned into weeks and then months, concern grew that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams might not have a ride back to Earth. NASA has He objected to the characterization that the couple is “stranded” on the ISS.but it is increasingly difficult to see it any other way. report According to Ars Technica, many within NASA are pushing for Wilmore and Williams to return home on a SpaceX Dragon instead of a Starliner. One source tells Ars there's a “greater than 50% chance” that the astronauts will return home on a Dragon instead of a Starliner.
SpaceX Dragon Crew 1 docked with the ISS.
Credit: NASA
Last month, NASA issued a contract with SpaceX to study the feasibility of flying more than four astronauts on Crew Dragon. In theory, there is room for six people on the vehicle. While NASA claims this study is unrelated to the issues with Starliner, SpaceX has identified flight suits that can fit Wilmore and Williams. This would allow them to return to Earth on either the Crew-8 spacecraft currently docked at the ISS or Crew-9, which is set to launch on August 8. In the latter case, NASA is considering sending just two astronauts on that mission to ensure there is room for Wilmore and Williams.
This is a tough decision for NASA, but crew safety is its top priority. The decision is expected to be made by NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free sometime next week. If Free decides to abandon Starliner at the station, that could very well mean the end of Boeing's commercial crew involvement and it would be stuck on the mission. Boeing loses $1.6 billion On the Starship side, NASA would be left with just one operational crew transport vehicle. While Dragon has proven extremely reliable, the point of the Commercial Crew Program was to ensure supplier redundancy — Boeing was also supposed to be the safe bet. Boeing has been at the center of several embarrassing failures in recent years, and SpaceX stepping in to save the day could be the biggest embarrassment yet.
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