by NASA is considering keeping the two astronauts who flew the Boeing capsule to the International Space Station there until February as a result of issues with the mid-flight spacecraft.
The agency said Wednesday that it is still evaluating options for how to safely return NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth, and that no plans have yet been made. But officials have admitted more openly than ever that they may decide to use a SpaceX capsule instead.
“Our main option is to get Butch and Suni back on Starliner,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said Wednesday in a news briefing. “However, we’ve done the necessary planning to make sure we have other options open, so we’ve been working with SpaceX to make sure they’re ready to respond.”
Wilmore and Williams arrived at the space station on June 6 on the first crewed test flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule. The initial plan called for them to stay in space for about a week. But problems with five of Starliner’s thrusters and helium leaking from the capsule’s propulsion system have left the astronauts stranded there for more than two months as engineers on the ground collect data on the issues and try to troubleshoot solution.
The mission was designed to be the final step before the agency could confirm that Boeing would conduct routine crewed flights to and from the ISS. The fate of that process is now up in the air.
NASA offered no possible timeline for when the astronauts might return if they travel back to the Boeing capsule, but Stich said a final decision would likely have to be made by mid-August.
Meanwhile, the launch of one of SpaceX’s Dragon capsules – which was due to send four new crew members to the space station later this month – has been postponed to give NASA and Boeing more time to deal with Starliner problems.
The SpaceX mission (called Crew-9) is delayed by about a month. NASA officials said they could change the plan and send two crew members to space on that vehicle instead of four, then use the capsule to bring Wilmore and Williams home.
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said there were disagreements about how to get the astronauts home safely.
“I have to admit, sometimes when we get into a disagreement, it’s not fun,” Bowersox said. “It can be painful to have those discussions, but that’s what makes us a good organization, and it’s what will make us make a good decision as we approach that point in the future. And I don’t think we’re too far from making that call.”
In the event that Wilmore and Williams fly home on another vehicle, mission managers could make software adjustments to the Starliner and retrieve it from the space station and return to Earth unmanned, according to Stich.
Boeing officials did not participate in the briefing, but a representative for the company said in a statement: “We still believe in the Starliner’s capabilities and its flight rationale.”
“If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the necessary steps to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return,” the statement said.
The thruster problems arose as Starliner was approaching the space station in June, delaying the docking process. Meanwhile, the helium leaks were already on the mission managers’ radar before liftoff. They said at the time that the leaks were unlikely to affect the mission or the safety of the astronauts.
Engineers from NASA and Boeing are trying to replicate conditions in orbit on a test engine at the agency’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Mission managers also conducted two “hot fire tests” in space, firing the capsule’s thrusters in short bursts while it was still docked at the space station.
Stich said Wednesday that tests showed that a tiny Teflon seal appears to swell under high temperatures and may be partly to blame for the thruster problems. When the seal expands, it likely blocks the flow of propellant into the thrusters, he said.
Further testing is needed to understand the potential obstructions and why they were not detected during the latest hot fire test. Last week, NASA reported that the thrusters, which are used to maneuver the spacecraft into orbit and guide it into position before passing through Earth’s atmosphere, appeared stable.
“That gives us a lot of confidence in the thrusters, but we can’t prove with absolute certainty that what we’re seeing in orbit is exactly what’s being replicated on the ground,” Stich said.
The recent Starliner saga was a blow to Boeing, especially since the program was years behind schedule and more than $1.5 billion over budget before the astronauts were launched.
Boeing and SpaceX developed their space capsules as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program – an initiative that began more than a decade ago to support private companies building new space vehicles to take astronauts to low-Earth orbit. The program continued to retire NASA’s space shuttles.
SpaceX has been carrying astronauts to the International Space Station since 2020.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
