The two astronauts were supposed to spend a good week on the International Space Station (ISS), but now it will take more than eight months. Astronaut Suni Williams and her colleague Barry Wilmore will not return to Earth until February 2025 due to problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. This was announced by the US space agency NASA. They should start the return journey from the ISS with another spacecraft, Crew Dragon, from the manufacturer SpaceX.
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NASA boss Bill Nelson justified the eagerly awaited decision with safety concerns to send the troubled Starliner back to Earth with the crew. Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS on Starliner’s first manned test flight in early June.
In fact the mission was only planned for about a week, but then a number of technical problems arose; including engine and helium leaks. The return flight, originally planned for mid-June, was cancelled and the two astronauts have been stranded on the space station 400 kilometres above Earth ever since.
Astronauts support plan
NASA manager Norman Knight said he had spoken to the astronauts about the extended stay and they would fully support the decision and continue their mission on the ISS.
According to the new plan, Williams and Wilmore will now move to Elon Musk’s SpaceX company’s Crew Dragon as passengers next February. Meanwhile, the Starliner returns to Earth unmanned. According to NASA, this move is planned to take place in early September. Opening Boeing’s Starliner will make room for the arrival of the Crew Dragon.
Crew Dragon is scheduled to fly in September
The launch of Crew 9 from Cape Canaveral with Crew Dragon is currently scheduled for a date after September 24. Only two astronauts are flying instead of the original four. Williams and Wilmore will then join this crew and return to Earth with their two colleagues in 2025 after a mission lasting several months.
The 58-year-old and 61-year-old are experienced astronauts, NASA manager Dana Weigel said. She stressed that six to eight months in space is definitely within the normal range. The pair will help with experiments and maintenance work on the ISS. They may also be able to do some spacewalks at the end of the mission. Supplies of food and drinking water are also secured through further cargo flights. No one needs to go on a diet or restrict their calorie intake, Weigel said.
The Starliner of the American aerospace company Boeing is a partially reusable spacecraft consisting of a three-meter-high capsule for the crew and a service module. Unlike SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, it lands on Earth, not on water.
There are always problems and delays
Boeing has been developing the Starliner on behalf of NASA for years, but while Crew Dragon now transports people and technology to the ISS largely without problems, Boeing has been plagued by difficulties. During the first unmanned test, the spacecraft did not even reach the ISS in 2019, and the second in 2022 was successful, but problems cropped up again after that and there were multiple postponements.
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The spacecraft took off on its first manned test flight from Cape Canaveral Spaceport in early June after years of delays. Technical problems in the engines, unexpected heat development and a helium leak are seen as a serious setback for Boeing.
But NASA stood behind the Boeing Starliner despite several accidents. NASA manager Steve Stich said in the press conference, this is a very powerful spacecraft. The NASA and Boeing teams have done a huge amount of testing and analysis that will help in the future. NASA boss Nelson emphasized that he is 100 percent confident that the Starliner will bring crew to the ISS space station in the future.
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