August 14th 2024.
After multiple delays and setbacks with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, two NASA astronauts are facing another week of uncertainty as they await news on their return to Earth from the International Space Station. The decision is expected to come at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week, according to NASA officials speaking at a Wednesday news conference.
Ken Bowersox, NASA Associate Administrator, acknowledged the urgency of the situation, stating, "We're reaching a point where that last week in August, we really should be making a call, if not sooner," in response to a question from CNN. One of the main concerns is the limited supply of essential resources, such as food, on board the space station.
As of now, NASA is considering two options for the astronauts' return trip. The first is to use the Starliner spacecraft, which brought them to the space station on Boeing's first crewed test flight. The second option is to fly home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle, which was already scheduled to make a routine staffing mission to the orbiting laboratory.
However, there have been internal disagreements within NASA about the best course of action. Boeing representatives were notably absent from the news conference, although the company has expressed confidence in the Starliner's capabilities to make the return trip.
The two veteran NASA astronauts piloting the Starliner, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have been on the space station since June 6, nearly nine weeks longer than originally planned. Last week, NASA officials hinted that they may turn to SpaceX, Boeing's rival under the Commercial Crew Program, to bring the astronauts home instead of Starliner. This decision could potentially extend their stay on the space station by another six months, pushing their return into 2025, according to agency officials at an August 7 news conference.
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