Forbes StaffNew reports suggest that the two astronauts will return in February next year.
NASA has said recently that astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore will return ‘home’ in February 2025. This was quoted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Saturday, as per Reuters. Bill Nelson, NASA administrator, said, “NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February and that Starliner will return uncrewed.”
The return of Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Astronauts Sunita (Suni) Williams and Butch (Barry) Wilmore, as confirmed by Nelson, have been delayed by thruster malfunctions of the Boeing spacecraft. NASA further said that the astronauts who had flown into the International Space Station (ISS) in June aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule will now need to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, which is said to be February 2025. It said that deeming issues with Starliner’s propulsion system is too risky to carry its first crew home. Boeing has struggled to develop the gumdrop-shaped capsule Starliner, designed to compete with Crew Dragon as a second US option for sending astronaut crews to and from the Earth’s orbit.
Starliner’s failure in 2019.
In 2019, Starliner failed a test to launch to the ISS uncrewed, but in 2022, it mostly succeeded in a do-over attempt where it also encountered thruster problems. Its June mission with its first crew was required before NASA could certify the capsule for routine flights; however, the Starliner’s crew certification path has been overturned. Since it docked to the ISS in June, Boeing has scrambled to investigate the cause of its thruster mishaps and helium leaks. The company conducted test simulations on Earth to gather data to try and convince NASA officials that Starliner was safe to fly the crew back home.
However, NASA’s decision and Starliner’s uncertain path to certification will add to the crises faced by new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who started this month with the aim of rebuilding the planemaker’s reputation after a door panel in January blew off a 737 MAX passenger jet in midair.
