Products You May Like
After years of setbacks, Boeing finally launched the Starliner crewed demo flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in June. This mission was supposed to be a quick jaunt to space and back, taking just eight days. However, glitches in Starliner have extended the mission by months, with astronauts Wilmore and Williams cooling their heels on the ISS. NASA insists the crew will return home on Starliner, but a new report suggests the SpaceX Dragon may have to come to the rescue.
The development of Boeing’s Starliner has been troubled from the moment it reached the launchpad. A series of leaks and valve issues scuttled earlier launch attempts, and the uncrewed demo flight had to be repeated after a software glitch caused the spacecraft to miss its ISS rendezvous. There were hints in the lead-up to the crewed test flight that Starliner wasn’t up to the task. A small but persistent helium leak on the ground blossomed into five leaks en route to the station, and five of the vehicle’s thrusters cut out on approach. NASA opted to keep Starliner docked for a bit while Boeing investigated.
As the days turned to weeks and then months, concern has grown that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams might not have a ride back to Earth. NASA has objected to the characterization that the pair are “stranded” on the ISS, but it’s getting harder to see it any other way. A report from Ars Technica reveals that many inside NASA are pushing to bring Wilmore and Williams home on a SpaceX Dragon instead of Starliner. One source tells Ars there is a “greater than a 50-50 chance” the astronauts will come home on Dragon instead of Starliner.
SpaceX Crew-1 Dragon docked to the ISS.
Credit: NASA
Last month, NASA issued a contract to SpaceX to study the feasibility of flying more than four astronauts on Crew Dragon. There is hypothetically room for six people in the vehicle. While NASA claims this study is unrelated to the issues with Starliner, SpaceX has reportedly identified flight suits that can fit Wilmore and Williams. This would allow them to return to Earth on the Crew-8 spacecraft that is currently docked at the ISS or on Crew-9, which will launch on Aug. 8. In the latter case, NASA is considering sending just two astronauts up on that mission to ensure there is room for Wilmore and Williams.
This is a difficult decision for NASA, but crew safety is its highest priority. The call will allegedly be made by NASA associate administrator Jim Free at some point next week. If Free decides to abandon Starliner at the station, that could very well spell the end of Boeing’s Commercial Crew involvement and lock in Boeing’s $1.6 billion loss on the spacecraft. That would leave NASA with just one operational crewed transport vehicle. While Dragon has proven itself to be ultra-reliable, the entire point of the Commercial Crew Program was to ensure supplier redundancy—Boeing was supposed to be the safe bet, too. Boeing has been at the center of several embarrassing failures in recent years, and having SpaceX step in to save the day might be the biggest embarrassment yet.