NASA officials say the two astronauts stranded in space by Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft could end up returning to Earth in 2025 inside Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon Crew spacecraft, according to multiple reports.
While NASA officials insist that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are not stranded in space, the two astronauts who launched into orbit on June 5 were initially expected to return home as soon as June 14 — just eight days later.
After launching into orbit, Boeing’s Starliner began facing problems, including helium leaks and failing thrusters, but NASA officials downplayed the difficulties, claiming they were not “significant at all.”
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and now NASA officials are acknowledging that these issues might be more serious than they had initially thought.
Now, the agency admits it has been looking into possibly sending the astronauts home on the Dragon spacecraft.
Last week, sources told Ars Technica that NASA was in the middle of robust discussions about whether to fly the crew home on Starliner or Dragon, with some engineers arguing that the fact they even have to question whether Starliner can safely send the astronauts back to Earth means NASA should opt for the Dragon.
“We could take either path, and reasonable people could pick either path,” NASA’s Ken Bowersox said on Wednesday during a press conference, according to a report by the New York Times.
If NASA opts for SpaceX’s Dragon, Musk’s spacecraft will launch into orbit with two astronauts instead of four, so that the stranded Starliner astronauts can join them for the return trip, reaching Earth in February 2025, the report added.
“In the last few weeks, we have decided to make sure we have that capability there, as our community, I would say, got more and more uncomfortable,” NASA’s program manager for commercial crew Steve Stich said.
While the agency has not yet decided which spacecraft it will choose, Stich added that a decision would have to be made this month.
But if NASA sends the astronauts home on Musk’s Dragon, that could mean the end of Boeing’s Starliner program.
Notably, Boeing has billions of dollars in aerospace contracts with the federal government. Moreover, Boeing said in a SEC filing last week that it expects to lose $125 million because of the Starliner delays.
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