Have you ever had an eight-day road trip turn into an eight-month jaunt? No? Well, you’re in luck because you’re not one of the astronauts currently stranded in space.
Two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who flew to the International Space Station (ISS) on the Boeing Starliner will now remain there until 2025 due to problems with the Boeing spacecraft. NASA made the long-awaited decision on Saturday, citing safety concerns.
As Mashable’s science and space reporter Elisha Sauers reports in detail, the space agency will need to make a decision by this time in August because of limited port space (effectively parking space for spacecraft) and because NASA also needs to ensure that astronauts of health. Concerns about Starliner focus mainly on problems with its propulsion system. When the Starliner docked, a thruster failed and engineers apparently failed to devise an adequate fix or explanation. These thrusters are important when the capsule is landing because they keep the capsule pointing in the right direction.
Mix and match speed of light
Why it was decided time was running out for Starliner astronauts to come home
The new plan calls for Williams and Wilmore to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule in February. The planned eight-day test run for Starliner will in turn lead to an eight-month stay on the International Space Station. The Starliner will be sent back without any crew.
People’s lives are at stake, and NASA seems to have decided it’s best to err on the side of caution.
“We’ve made mistakes in the past,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “We lost two space shuttles because we didn’t have a culture that could provide information.”
The decision is another blow to Boeing’s reputation, which has been plagued by bad headlines recently. Safety concerns have only intensified since the tragic Boeing 737 Max crash in 2018-19 that killed 346 people. Its space program has run into problems, and it’s certainly not ideal — for the company, and certainly not for the astronauts stranded in space.
