Nasa reveals plan for stranded Boeing astronauts to return to Earth after almost 80 days stuck on the ISS

NASA has revealed two stranded astronauts from a flawed Boeing mission will return to Earth with SpaceX.

Butch Wilmore, 61, and Suni Williams, 58, flew to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s faulty Starliner capsule for an eight-day mission in early June.

AFP

NASA / Wikipedia / Creative Commons

Robert Markowitz / NASA-Johnson Space Center

The agency deemed issues with Starliner’s propulsion system too risky to carry its first crew home.

The two astronauts are now expected to return in February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

This is due to launch next month as part of a routine astronaut rotation mission.

Two of the Crew Dragon’s four astronaut seats will be kept empty for Wilmore and Williams.

Starliner will undock from the ISS without a crew and attempt to return to Earth as it would have with astronauts aboard.

NASA chief Bill Nelson, speaking with reporters at a news conference in Houston , said he discussed the agency’s decision with Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg.

“He expressed to me an intention that they will continue to work the problems once Starliner is back safely,” Nelson said of Ortberg.

Veteran NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams, both former military test pilots, became the first crew to ride Starliner on June 5.

They were launched to the ISS for what was expected to be an eight-day test mission.

But Starliner’s propulsion system suffered a series of glitches beginning in the first 24 hours of its flight to the ISS triggering months of cascading delays.

Five of its 28 thrusters failed and it sprang several leaks of helium which is used to pressurise the thrusters.

Boeing struggled for years to develop Starliner, a gumdrop-shaped capsule designed to compete with Crew Dragon as a second US option for sending astronaut crews to and from Earth’s orbit.

Starliner failed a 2019 test to launch to the ISS uncrewed but mostly succeeded in a 2022 do-over attempt where it also encountered thruster problems.

Its June mission with its first crew was required before NASA can certify the capsule for routine flights.

What is the ISS?

Here's what you need to know about the International Space Station (ISS).

• The International Space Station is a large spacecraft that orbits Earth and houses astronauts who go up there to complete scientific missions
• Many countries worked together to build it and they work together to use it
• It is made up of many pieces, which astronauts had to send up individually on rockets and put together from 1998 to 2000
• Ever since the year 2000, people have lived on the ISS
• Nasa uses the station to learn about living and working in space
• It is approximately 250 miles above Earth and orbits around the planet just like a satellite
• Living inside the ISS is said to be like living inside a big house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a gym, lots of science labs and a big bay window for viewing Earth

But now Starliner’s crew certification path has been upended.

Since Starliner docked to the ISS in June Boeing has scrambled to investigate what caused its thruster mishaps and helium leaks.

The company arranged tests and simulations on Earth to gather data that it has used to try and convince NASA officials that Starliner is safe to fly the crew back home.

But results from that testing raised more difficult engineering questions and ultimately failed to quell NASA officials’ concerns about Starliner’s ability to make its crewed return trip.

NASA’s decision, and Starliner’s now-uncertain path to certification, will add to the crises faced by Ortberg.

He started this month with the goal to rebuild the planemaker’s reputation after a door panel dramatically blew off a 737 MAX passenger jet in midair in January.

How does space affect the body?

Space takes a significant toll on the human body, such as:

• Redistribution of fluid around body due to long periods of weightlessness
• Bone density loss in critical areas such as lower limbs and spine
• Muscle atrophy

Although ISS astronauts spend an average of two hours a day exercising, muscle loss is unavoidable in space.

It takes several years to recover from a six-month spaceflight.

There can be ongoing health concerns long after astronauts have returned to Earth, including:

• Higher risk of bone fracture
• Increase in erectile dysfunction
• Cancer risk due to radiation exposure

AP

Reuters