08/24/2024 – 11:34
NASA will decide this Saturday (24) whether its two astronauts trapped on the International Space Station (ISS) will be able to return to Earth on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft or will have to wait to be rescued by SpaceX.
If it opts for the second solution, it will be a setback for Boeing, with repercussions for the crew: the two astronauts would spend a total of eight months on the ISS, instead of the eight days initially planned.
A committee will meet on Saturday, in the presence of NASA chief Bill Nelson. An hour later, at 1700 GMT (1400 GMT), the space agency is scheduled to hold a press conference.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off in early June aboard Starliner and have since been at the ISS, where their spacecraft remains docked.
The spacecraft was supposed to bring them back to Earth eight days later, but problems detected in its propulsion system led NASA to question its reliability.
The agency has begun considering an emergency solution: transporting the astronauts on a SpaceX mission in February.
For weeks, Boeing and NASA teams have been carrying out tests to better understand the cause of the problems detected in flight, mainly in the spacecraft’s thrusters.
The main concern is that Starliner will not be able to build up the thrust needed to de-orbit and begin its descent to Earth. If it is determined that it is unsafe, the spacecraft will return empty.
A regular SpaceX mission, called Crew-9, would take off in late September, but with just two astronauts on board instead of four.
It would remain docked to the ISS until its planned return to Earth in February. Therefore, it would bring back the two astronauts who traveled on the Boeing device, in addition to the two crew members of Crew-9.
If this is the choice, Boeing’s image would be heavily affected in a time of crisis due to problems with its planes.
Ten years ago, NASA ordered a new spacecraft from Boeing and another from SpaceX to transport its astronauts to the ISS. With two vehicles available, there would be a viable solution in case of a problem with one of them.
But tycoon Elon Musk’s company has prevailed over Boeing as the sole American space taxi for the past four years. The first crewed flight of the Starliner, which took off years late, was supposed to be the final test before it begins regular operations.
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