After weeks of debate, NASA has ruled out returning two astronauts from the ISS to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule, CBSNews reports.
The space agency decided not to risk the lives of Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
NASA found no evidence that the systems would continue to function normally to ensure a safe deorbit, reentry, and landing, despite the Starliner maneuvering engines having passed successful tests, receiving thorough analysis, and confirming that the helium leak in the propulsion system had not increased.
In order for Starliner Commander Barry Wilmore and Copilot Sunita Williams to return home in February of next year, two of the four astronauts on Crew 9, who were originally slated to launch to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon on September 24, will not be taking part in the expedition.
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“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew 9 next February, and the Starliner will return without a crew. The decision to return Starliner home without a crew is the result of our core value being safety,” said agency administrator Bill Nelson.
Willmore and Williams, veteran testers making their third visit to the space station, were originally scheduled to spend just over a week in the lab during the Starliner’s first manned test flight, which launched on June 5.
They will now spend at least 262 days in orbit for nearly nine months and will return to Earth around February 22 with the two members of Crew 9, who will complete their usual six-month rotation.
Wilmore and Williams will thus become the first astronauts in history to fly into space aboard four different spacecraft: NASA’s Space Shuttle, Russia’s Soyuz, Boeing’s Starliner, and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
The space station’s forward port will order Starliner to undock on September 6 in preparation for an unmanned reentry and landing in the state of New Mexico.
With the departure of the Starliner, only the four-seat Crew 8 capsule will be able to rescue the astronauts in an emergency. If necessary, it will serve as a lifeboat until the arrival of the Crew 9 ferry.
Following the capsule carrying Crew 9, the four members of Crew 8, who are wrapping up their six-month mission, will reconfigure the craft for a typical undocking and make their scheduled return to Earth on October 1. Willmore and Williams will remain aboard the station along with two members of Crew 9, which will launch on September 24.
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