NASA Boeing Starliner decision infographic
Graphic shows problems facing Starliner capsule.
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SPACE

Astronauts wait to return to Earth

By Duncan Mil

August 12, 2024 - NASA will decide in mid-August how and when to bring two astronauts -- Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore -- back from the International Space Station, possibly including a ride home in a SpaceX capsule, after repeatedly delaying their return aboard Boeing’s Starliner.

Navy veterans Wilmore and Williams flew to the ISS on June 5 on Boeing’s Starliner, the craft’s first crewed launch. They are still on the station, waiting for NASA to figure out how to get them back to Earth.

“We don’t just have to bring a crew back on Starliner, for example. We could bring them back on another vehicle,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said during a press conference on Wednesday (August 7).

Boeing’s Starliner capsule has had several issues. Its original launch date was pushed back twice -- once because of a problem with an oxygen valve.

Once in space, NASA discovered four helium leaks and five malfunctioning thrusters. NASA and Boeing have said the Starliner capsule is safe to travel in, but the exact issue behind its troubles is yet to be determined, and Wilmore and Williams remain on the ISS.

If NASA chooses SpaceX’s Dragon option, only two of the four astronauts set for the launch will go, leaving two seats to ferry Wilmore and Williams back to Earth in February 2025.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 12/08/2024; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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