Florida News

NASA considers using SpaceX capsule to bring Boeing astronauts home

Central Florida Public Media | By Brendan Byrne

Published August 8, 2024 at 6:28 AM CDT

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA's Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module's forward port. This view is from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the port adjacent to the Starliner.

NASA is considering using SpaceX’s crew capsule to return two of its astronauts from the International Space Station who arrived on Boeing’s Starliner back in June.

Since Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the station, Boeing and NASA have been investigating a number of issues with the vehicle including a helium leak and faulty thrusters.

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore prepare orbital plumbing hardware for installation inside the International Space Station’s bathroom, also known as the waste and hygiene compartment, located in the Tranquility module. The duo continue to support the current station crew with science experiments and maintenance while they wait for a return date.

Boeing conducted tests of the thrusters and says confidence is high in returning the crew in Starliner. But NASA is unsure and has asked another commercial contractor, SpaceX, to come up with a plan to return the astronauts.

That plan would involve sending an already scheduled crewed mission to the station with only two astronauts, and having Wilmore and Williams hitch a ride back home in February.

“As we’ve said before our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner but we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open,” said Steve Stitch, manager for NASA's commercial crew program.

NASA has already delayed the scheduled Crew-9 mission from August 18 to September 24 to allow mission planners time to consider the return options for Wilmore and Williams.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 stands in front of a Falcon 9 first-stage booster at SpaceX’s HangarX facility in Florida. NASA could bump two astronauts to make room for the Boeing crew to return on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule.

If NASA decides to go with the SpaceX return option, two of the four astronauts would get bumped from the mission — making room for the Boeing astronauts to return.

"Now we haven't approved this plan," Stitch told reporters Wednesday, but said the agency has "done all the work to to make sure this plan is there. We have the suits identified to fly up on Crew-9. We have the seats set up so that we can fly a multiple compliment of people, but we have not turned that on formally."

The agency has until mid-August to make that call.

Wilmore and Willams launched to the station June 5 on a test flight of Starliner, its first mission carrying human passengers. It's a critical test of the vehicle before NASA certifies it for regular operational missions, and was initially planned to last about eight days.