NASA says two Starliner astronauts stranded on ISS will return in February

New York, Aug 24 (EFE).- NASA said Saturday that the two astronauts on Boeing’s first manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Starliner, who have been stranded there for 80 days after the craft malfunctioned, will return in February 2025 on a SpaceX ship.

Astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams were due to return to Earth in mid-June, about a week after their launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but thruster failures and small helium leaks on the Starliner prevented their return.

“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with a crew next February and Starliner will return unmanned,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at a press conference in Houston, ending weeks of speculation.

Nelson acknowledged “mistakes” and said NASA has worked with Boeing – in direct contact with its new CEO, Kelly Ortberg – to obtain “the data necessary to make this decision” and understand the “root causes” of the Starliner’s problems and “the design improvements” it needs.

NASA previously said it had no return date for the two astronauts and was considering the option of having them return in February 2025 in a SpaceX Dragon capsule – on a mission called Crew-9 – a move that was finally confirmed after a meeting of the agency’s leaders today to analyze data.

The two astronauts “will return home on a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission,” NASA said in a statement, estimating that the Starliner will make a “safe, controlled and autonomous return and landing in early September.”

The SpaceX mission is expected to launch on September 24 from the Kennedy Space Center; it was initially intended to carry four people, but will instead carry two to accommodate the stranded astronauts, who will resume their duties over the next few months.

“Spaceflight is risky even when it is safe and routine, and a test flight, by its nature, is neither safe nor routine, so the decision to keep Butch and Suni on the ISS and bring back the empty Boeing Starliner is a commitment to safety,” Nelson said.

Boeing, which was not present at the press conference, said through X that it remains “focused on the safety of the crew and the spacecraft,” is “executing the mission as determined by NASA” and preparing the Starline for its uncrewed return.

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