Boeing’s two Starliner astronauts may learn their fate in the next two weeks — but for now, NASA doesn’t know when the duo will be coming home. So while the space agency’s best and brightest work with Boeing engineers to further evaluate data from ground tests of Starliner’s systems, the spacecraft’s crew, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) awaiting a final decision.
Butch and Suni launched to the ISS on June 5 aboard a Starliner to conduct the spacecraft’s Crew Flight Test (CFT). Their mission, which was to conduct the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s commercial crew vehicle, was originally scheduled to last only about 10 days, but could now be extended to up to eight months, giving a possible return date in 2025.
Although Starliner’s flight into orbit was initially delayed due to a small helium leak, it proceeded without incident. However, as the spacecraft approached the ISS the next day, Starliner experienced malfunctions in five of the vehicle’s 28 reaction control (RCS) thrusters. As a result, NASA and Boeing extended Butch and Suni’s stay aboard the space station indefinitely while teams on the ground work to better understand what went wrong. Now, NASA officials say they expect to make a final decision on the crew’s return by the last week of August.
NASA had indicated in an earlier update that it would invite additional propulsion experts to look more closely at the Starliner’s problems. Officials confirmed this during a call with reporters on Wednesday afternoon (August 14). “We brought in folks from the robotic spaceflight community at the Glenn (Research Center) and the Goddard Space Flight Center at JPL. They are used to analyzing propulsion systems when spacecraft are millions of miles away, and they provided us with some useful information,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, during the briefing.
Emily Nelson, chief flight director of NASA’s Flight Operations Directorate, also participated in the call and stressed the importance of “bringing in experts with a completely different perspective to look at the data we’ve gathered as we try to understand what we may not understand.”
While these experts continue to closely examine the Starliner’s engine data, NASA has also put some contingency plans in place. In the event of an emergency on board the ISS, Butch and Suni currently have permission to evacuate the space station in the Starliner – but beyond that, NASA is not confident enough to give the spacecraft the green light to return to Earth.
The delayed departure of the Starliner from the space station has forced NASA to postpone other flights to the orbiting laboratory. The launch of SpaceX’s Crew-9, originally scheduled for this month, will now take place in late September, and the 31st Cargo Dragon resupply mission has been pushed back to mid-October. And to avoid a backlog of incoming spacecraft, the Starliner will have to undock from the station before Crew-9 arrives – whether it departs with or without a crew.
In the “or not” case, NASA is prepared to launch the Crew-9 mission with only two astronauts (or cosmonauts) on board, ultimately adding Butch and Suni as official crew members in Expeditions 71 and 72. In that case, the Starliner would undock from the space station with an empty cabin, conduct a deorbit burn and reentry without Butch and Suni on board, and hopefully undergo a nominal parachute deployment, landing, and recovery. Butch and Suni would receive new seats aboard the Crew-9 Dragon and return to Earth at the end of that mission’s rotation, sometime in February 2025.
“It’s a pretty big discussion whether or not we’re going to have a crew on board the Starliner when we return,” Bowersox said during Wednesday’s call. “The main thing we’re looking at is the propulsion system,” he said. “Our biggest concern is a successful deorbit burn, to make sure the (propellant) system is working exactly as it’s supposed to throughout the deorbit burn.”
NASA plans to conduct a flight readiness review after completing some key data analysis. This could begin as early as next week. In the meantime, Starliner astronauts are patiently waiting for a final decision.
Butch and Suni have already been on board the ISS several weeks longer than expected, helping with the station’s regular duties where they can. According to NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, they seem to be enjoying their extra time in orbit. “For now, the agency has taken the time to make sure we’re not putting the crew at any greater risk than necessary,” Acaba said during Wednesday’s press conference, adding, “As astronauts, it’s always worth waiting for.”
