NASA Made Final Call: SpaceX will return Boeing Starliner Crew

NASA has finally made a call on bringing two Boeing Starliner astronauts back to Earth using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft via Crew-9 mission.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took part in a test certification flight for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule in June this year. The spacecraft was set to return in one week but was delayed repeatedly due to technical challenges. These issues remain in effect until August and the space agency confirmed Starliner will now return without crew.

“NASA and Boeing continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew,” wrote NASA in a press release on Saturday.

SpaceX will launch a new Crew-9 mission somewhere in September using Dragon spacecraft. The company initially planned to fly four astronauts to the space station.

Now, it will liftoff with only two astronauts during liftoff and keep the rest free for the upcoming passengers. Dragon will remain stationed until February 2025 and it will make a return with four astronauts.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and leadership participate in a live news conference on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, to brief about Boeing Starliner (Source – NASA)

In the meantime, NASA and SpaceX are working on several optimizations on Dragon pod. That includes seat reconfiguration for Crew-9 Dragon, making new adjustments for additional cargo, and optimizing suits for returning astronauts.

Falcon 9 will launch from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to launch Crew-9. The new facility provides increased operational flexibility around NASA’s Europa Clipper launch.

This new crewed Dragon liftoff will be the ninth rotational mission to the space station within the Commercial Crew Program.

A Mistake

The decision to return Starliner without crew reflects on the technological advancement that needs to be validated thoroughly. This should be a priority before allowing any crewed mission in orbit.

For instance, NASA and Boeing could have sent a cargo flight to a space station and evaluated relevant data to prepare a flight for a human mission.

(source – NASA)