Boeing Starliner astronauts preparing to return home after extended stay on space station
After an unexpected stay of more than nine months, NASA astronauts and Starliner crew members Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore are coming home from the International Space Station this week.
After arriving more than 280 days ago on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft, Williams and Wilmore will return aboard a different vehicle, a SpaceX Dragon. Live coverage begins at 10:45 p.m. EDT today as hatches are closed on the Dragon and the space station.
The two veteran astronauts docked at the space station on June 6 on the first crewed test flight of the Starliner. They were due to return in about a week. Thruster problems on the Starliner, which was later brought down empty, delayed their return flight.
Williams and Wilmore will be leaving with two other astronauts of the space station’s Crew-9 team.
NASA and SpaceX on Sunday assessed weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s Atlantic coast for the Crew-9 departure from the space station, now set for Tuesday evening.
When will the astronauts return from the space station?
NASA Starliner astronauts are set to return on March 18.
Before the Starliner crew members can depart with the Crew-9 team, they had to await the arrival of the mission's successors. The Dragon capsule transporting the four-member crew of Crew-10 launched at 7:03 p.m. EDT Friday from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
The Crew 10 Dragon capsule caught up with the International Space Station early Sunday for a textbook docking, clearing the way for the Starliner astronauts to return to Earth after nearly 300 days in space.
The Crew-10 mission will transport NASA astronauts Anne McClain (commander) and Nichole Ayers (pilot); JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi (mission specialist); and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov (mission specialist) to the space station.
The Crew-9 mission, consisting of NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, is set to return to Earth after a brief handover period with the newly arrived Crew-10 expedition crew, pending weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of Florida.
What's the U.S. record for consecutive days aboard the space station?
How many Starliner launch delays were there?
The Starliner's launch had been delayed multiple times from its initial May 6, 2024, liftoff by a series of technical issues, an oxygen leak and a helium leak from the capsule's propulsion system.
What went wrong with Starliner?
After technical delays, the two pilots launched aboard the Starliner crew capsule on June 5. It was the Starliner’s first crewed mission, known as Crew Flight Test, to test its flight and docking capabilities at the space station.
However, a helium leak developed that affected control of the capsule’s thrusters, used for docking and maneuvering.
Starliner docked at the space station on June 6. It was moved away from its dock to allow the SpaceX Crew-9 capsule to dock. The Boeing Starliner spacecraft was then returned to Earth on Sept. 6, 2024, landing at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
NASA and Boeing say the Starliner astronauts aren't "stranded" on the space station. While their extended mission is unexpected, the space station has room and resources to accommodate the Starliner crew.An uncrewed supply ship delivery included clothes and personal items for Williams and Wilmore. It arrived at the space station on Aug. 6.
How many delays home did the astronauts have?
Boeing Starliner's future
In October, NASA announced that it would not be moving forward with the first, full crew rotation mission with Starliner in the late summer of 2025.
“The timing and configuration of Starliner’s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established,” NASA said in an Oct. 15, 2024, blog post. “This determination will include considerations for incorporating Crew Flight Test lessons learned, approvals of final certification products, and operational readiness.”
NASA stating that it “is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025.”
This story was updated with new information.
Contributing: Brooke Edwards, Florida Today; Eric Lagatta, Jonathan Limehouse, Space.com, Paste BN
Source: Paste BN Network reporting and research; NASA
(This article was updated to include video.)