Share
8th August 2024
11:55am BST
Nasa have issued a concerning update on the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station and when they may return.
Barry Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 58, left Earth on the 5 June with the International Space Station (ISS) as their destination aboard the Boeing-made Starliner spacecraft.
The astronauts' mission was only meant to last eight days as they continued tests on Boeing's first reusable space capsule as it underwent its maiden flight with pilots onboard.
Starliner was only intended to reach the ISS and dock for a few days before returning back to Earth, however technical issues with the spacecraft have meant that the crew have now been stranded in space for two months.
NASA have since announced that their stay in space could be extended into 2025.
The unfortunate situation arose after technical problems befell the space capsule with engineers continuing to analyse data concerning faults with multiple of the ships thrusters when it approached for docking, and several helium leaks.
The complications encountered by Boeing make up just another chapter in an ongoing saga of struggles throughout the company with continuous problems across its civil aviation division responsible for the 737 Max and the issues the aircraft has faced.
This latest hiccup could lead to even more embarrassment for the company as a contingency plan to bring the astronauts home would include using a spacecraft from rivals Space X for the mission.
With NASA admitting on Wednesday that the technical complications are worse than first thought, this might just be the safest option for Wilmore and Williams.
Under this new strategy, NASA would incorporate the two astronauts into their regularly scheduled crew aboard the ISS that rotate based on six-month stints.
This would mean only two new astronauts would be sent up on Space X's Crew Dragon Capsule's next delivery of crew to the space station with Wilmore and Williams making up the numbers as fully-fledged crew.
This would give the pair an estimated return date of February 2025.
Space X's Crew Dragon has been slated to launch 18 August, however has been postponed and will not launch before 24 September, showing that Boeing and NASA are seriously considering putting their contingency plan into action.
Steve Stich, the manager of the commercial crew program at NASA said a decision has not been made, but would have to be in the coming days.
He said: “In the last few weeks, we have decided to make sure we have that capability there, as our community, I would say, got more and more uncomfortable."
“We have been working with SpaceX to ensure they are ready to respond with Crew-9 as a contingency,” Stich added.
“We have not formally committed to this path, but we wanted to ensure we had all that flexibility in place.
"Our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner. However, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open.
"I think Butch and Suni are ready to do whatever we need them to do."
Boeing, however, remain confident in their product.
A spokesperson for the company said: "We still believe in Starliner’s capability and its flight rationale. If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the actions necessary to configure Starliner for an uncrewed return.”
Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate made clear that technical hitches were always a possibility.
"When we started this mission, it was a test mission. We knew that it potentially had a higher risk.
"We have to compare all those risks and we'll weigh all that as we make our final decision."
No matter what happens the astronauts won't be going hungry as the ISS has plenty of supplies, being restocked every 90 days and having an extremely long shelf life.
