NASA is exploring a contingency plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been at the International Space Station (ISS) for two months with no clear end in sight.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams—who piloted the first crewed test flight of Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft—initially arrived at the ISS on June 6. On Wednesday during a press conference held by NASA, it became clear that the Starliner is going through problems that may prevent the astronauts from returning to Earth until 2025.
"We know at some point we need to bring Butch and Suni home,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations.
NASA revealed they are exploring a backup option for Wilmore and Williams to travel back to Earth on another spacecraft. Steve Stich, the manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said that the backup plan would involve a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule traveling to the ISS with two astronauts rather than its intended four. Wilmore and Williams would stay at the space station before returning to Earth on the Crew Dragon in February 2025. The capsule was built by SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor.
“We could take either path,” Bowersox said.
Wilmore and Williams were supposed to be in space for just eight days, but their stay has been extended because of issues related to Starliner’s thrusters. NASA and Boeing officials have emphasized, though, that the crew is not “stranded” or “stuck” in space, and that they had plans for them to return at the “right time.”
The SpaceX launch had previously been set for Aug. 18, but NASA announced on Tuesday that the launch has been pushed back to no earlier than Sept. 24 so that officials can finalize a plan for Starliner’s return.
Boeing said in a statement on Friday that it “remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with the crew,” adding that it was supporting NASA’s requests for additional testing, data, analysis, and reviews of the spacecraft.
If the backup plan is approved, Starliner would return to Earth without any astronauts on board.
NASA officials stressed that they haven’t made a final decision.
“Our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” Stich said. “However, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open.”