Starliner Returns Home Without Astronauts. How They Will Be Saved
It sounds like a pitch for a spooky science fiction or horror movie: two astronauts are stranded on a space station and their crewless spaceship abandons them and returns to Earth.
That’s the scenario that played out Friday night as Boeing’s Starliner capsule left astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore behind on the International Space Station and landed successfully at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
But for the two seasoned astronauts trapped on the ISS, the situation isn’t nearly as Hollywood-scary as it might sound. Let’s break it down.
Who are the astronauts?
Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, are veteran astronauts, both Navy officers and former test pilots. Williams has been a NASA astronaut since 1998 and Wilmore since 2000. Both have extensive experience in space.
Williams is the former record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time by a woman (50 hours, 40 minutes). In 2007, she ran the first marathon by a person in space.
In 2009, Wilmore piloted the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to the ISS, and in 2014, he was part of the ISS crew that used a 3D printer to create a tool in space: a ratchet wrench. This was the first time humans had ever manufactured something off Earth.
What is their mission in space?
Wilmore, as commander, and Williams, as pilot, traveled to the ISS in a 15-foot-wide, Boeing-made capsule called Starliner. They launched on June 5 and docked with the ISS on June 6. NASA hopes that Starliner will provide the agency with a new way to get crews to and from the ISS, and the fact that it is made by Boeing is another sign that NASA is starting to lean on the private sector for its human spaceflight options, The New York Times reported.
Wilmore and Williams’ ISS mission was supposed to last just eight days, during which they would test aspects of Starliner and see how it works with a human crew in space. But due to complications with Starliner, the two astronauts are still out there and won’t return until 2025. They’ve been busy — working with the ISS Expedition 71 crew to conduct research and maintenance activities, NASA said.
How did they get stuck in space?
The Starliner was delayed in May by a valve problem in the rocket, and engineers then had to repair a helium leak. It’s all bad news for Boeing, which is competing with SpaceX, which has been ferrying astronauts to the ISS since 2020 and has made more than 20 successful trips to the space station.
Starliner finally launched, atop an Atlas V rocket, on June 6, but it was not without its problems. NASA announced that three helium leaks were identified, one of which was known before the flight, and two new ones. In addition to the leaks, the crew also had to troubleshoot faulty control thrusters, although the craft was able to dock successfully with the ISS.
SpaceX has had its share of failures, too. A Falcon 9 rocket exploded on its launch pad in 2016. In July, a Falcon 9 rocket suffered a liquid oxygen leak and placed satellites in the wrong orbit, The New York Times reportedAnd last week, a Falcon 9 rocket lost a first-stage booster when it hit the Atlantic Ocean and burst into flames.
But that said, SpaceX has over 300 successful Falcon 9 flights to its credit.
The astronauts are safe
NASA quickly reported that the astronauts were not in danger and were not completely trapped.
“There is no rush to bring the crew home,” NASA said said in a statement last month. “This is a lesson learned from the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. Our NASA and Boeing teams are reviewing data from additional testing and analysis in space and on the ground, and are providing mission managers with data to make the best and safest decision about how and when to return the crew home.”
A decision was made on August 24.
When and how do the astronauts get home?
NASA announced on August 24 that it had decided to send Starliner back to Earth without a crew. The spacecraft landed safely in New Mexico on September 6.
Wilmore and Williams will be brought home early next year in the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon spacecraft.
“Wilmore and Williams will formally continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025,” the space agency said. said in a statement. “They are flying home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.”
That mission will not launch until Sept. 24, NASA said. Originally, there were to be four crew members on board for launch, but two will now remain behind to make room for Wilmore and Williams’ return trip.
“Space flight is risky, even in the safest and most routine ways,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement Aug. 24. “A test flight is by its nature neither safe nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and to bring Boeing’s Starliner home unmanned is a result of our commitment to safety — our core value and our North Star.”
What do the astronauts say?
The astronauts don’t seem to panic.
“We are having a great time here on the ISS,” Williams said at a press conference held from space in July. “I’m not complaining. Butch’s not complaining that we’re here a couple extra weeks.”
And despite the Starliner’s problems, Wilmore seems positive about the aircraft.
“The spacecraft performed incredibly well,” he said, though he noted that the thrust issues from the second day were evident. “You could see the thrust control, the power was reduced,” he said.
On August 24, Norman Knight, the head of NASA’s flight director office, said he had spoken with the two astronauts about the decision to send them back aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon early next year, The New York Times reported.
“They fully support the agency’s decision,” Knight said, according to the Times, “and they are prepared to continue this mission aboard the ISS.”
