NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today that US astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will return to Earth next February aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, following more than 80 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, highlighted the challenges faced over the summer as the agency analyzed data regarding the Starliner spacecraft. “As we received more data, it became evident that the most prudent decision was to bring Starliner back without a crew,” Stich explained, citing uncertainties related to the spacecraft’s thrusters.
He further noted, “If we could reliably predict the thruster performance during critical phases like undocking, de-orbiting, and separation, our decision might have differed. However, given the potential risks to the crew, we opted for an uncrewed test flight.”
When questioned about Boeing’s future with NASA, Associate Administrator Ken Bowersox acknowledged the difficult decision-making process. “There were intense discussions given the closeness of the call. This kind of debate is healthy but can strain team cohesion. We understand there’s work to be done to maintain unity, especially after making such tough choices,” Bowersox stated, reiterating NASA’s commitment to working with Boeing despite the challenges.
Stich also commented on Boeing’s efforts, stating, “Boeing did well in constructing a predictive model, but the question remains whether it’s sufficient for crewed missions.” He emphasized the slight differences in risk evaluation between NASA and Boeing, which ultimately led to NASA’s cautious approach.
Originally, the astronauts were slated to spend just over a week on the ISS after Boeing’s Starliner launched on June 5th. However, this mission faced complications, including thruster failures, helium leaks, and valve malfunctions during docking. With limited diagnostic access to the docked spacecraft, tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility suggested that deformed Teflon seals might have contributed to the thruster issues. Due to these unresolved technical problems, NASA opted to delay the astronauts’ return and instead coordinate with SpaceX to bring them home via the Crew-9 mission, scheduled for a late September launch.
