NASA decided on Saturday that it was too risky to bring two astronauts to Earth back into the new troubled capsule of Boeing, and they will have to wait next year for a return home with SpaceX. This should have been a week -long test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.
Seasoned pilots have been stuck at the international space station since early June. A cascade of propulsion chess and Helium Verxing leaks in the new capsule tarnished their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a maintenance model while the engineers carried out tests and debated what to do about the flight.
After almost three months, the decision was finally withdrawn from the highest NASA ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return to a SpaceX capsule in February. Their empty Starliner capsule will be discouraged in early September and will try to return to the automatic pilot with a touchdown in the desert of the New Mexico.
As Starliner's test pilots, the pair should have supervised this last critical step of the trip.
“An test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. The decision “is the result of a commitment to security”.
Nelson said the lessons learned from the two NASA space shuttle accidents had played a role. This time, he noted, the open dialogue was encouraged rather than crushed.
“It was not an easy decision, but it is absolutely the right one,” added Jim Free, the associate administrator of NASA.
Boeing “continues to focus” on safety
It was a blow for Boeing, adding to the security problems that afflict the company on the plane side. Boeing had counted on the first trip of the Starliner crew to relaunch the space program in difficulty after years of delays and hot air balloons. The company had insisted that Starliner was safe according to all recent tests in space and in the field.
Boeing did not participate in the press conference on Saturday by NASA, but published a statement: “Boeing continues to focus, above all, on the safety of the crew and the spaceship.” The company said that it was preparing the spaceship “for a safe and successful return”.
Jan Osburg, from Rand Corp., a senior engineer specializing in aerospace and defense, said that NASA had made the right choice. “But the United States still ends up with eggs on the face due to Starliner's design problems that should have been taken earlier.”
Mr. Wilmore, 61, and Ms. Williams, 58, are both retired naval captains with a long -term space flight experience. Before their launch of June 5 from Cape Canaveral, the two test pilots said that their families joined the uncertainty and stress of their professional careers ago.
During their orbital press conference only last month, astronauts said they had confidence in the propulsion tests carried out. They had no complaints, they added and liked to intervene with the work of the space station.
Mr. Wilmore's wife, Deanna, was also stoic in an interview earlier this month with WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, their country of origin. She was already preparing for a delay: “You just have to ride with it.”
The director of flight operations, Norm Knight, said that he had spoken to astronauts on Saturday and that they fully support the decision to postpone their return.
There were few options.
The SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents that have been there since March. They will return at the end of September, their six -month routine stay was extended per month by the Starliner dilemma. NASA said it would be dangerous to press two others in the capsule, except in an emergency.
The moored Russian soy capsule is even tightened, capable of piloting only three – including the Russians by ending a one -year stay.
Return “Taxi” to be launched at the end of September
Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams will therefore expect the next flight from Taxi from SpaceX. This must be launched at the end of September with two astronauts instead of the usual four. NASA pulls two two to make room for the two test pilots on the return flight at the end of February.
NASA said no serious consideration had been granted to ask SpaceX an independent rescue. Last year, the Russian space agency had to rush on a replacement Soyuz capsule for three men whose original profession was damaged by Space Junk. The Switch pushed their mission from six months to just over a year.
Former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, applauded the decision via X: “Good to be mistaken on the side of caution for the life of astronauts.” Long missions are “for which astronauts work all their careers. I would take it in the blink of an eye! ”
Starliner's misfortunes started well before its last flight.
Bad Software hung on the first unscrewed test flight in 2019, which prompted a do-over in 2022. Then the parachute and other problems arose, including a helium leak in the capsule propellant system which nixed an attempt to launch in May. The leak was finally deemed isolated and small enough not to put any concern. But more leaks germinated after takeoff and five propellants also failed.
All the small propellants except one restarted in flight. But the engineers were perplexed by ground tests which showed swelling of the propellant joint and hindered a line of propellant. They theorized the seals in orbit can have extended, then returned to their normal size. The officials said the results marked the turn, as their concerns increased.
With all the uncertainty about how propellants could work, “there was too many risks for the crew,” said Steve Stich, head of the NASA commercial crew program, to journalists.
These 28 propellants are vital. In addition to the necessary appointment for the Space Station, they keep the capsule pointed out in the right direction at the end of the flight while the larger engines divide the profession outside the orbit. Coming to Crooked could lead to a disaster.
With the still fresh Columbia disaster in many spirits – the shuttle separated during the start of the school year in 2003, killing the seven on board – NASA made an additional effort to embrace an open debate on Starliner's return capacity.
Despite the decision on Saturday, NASA does not give up Boeing. NASA's administrator Nelson said he was “100%” that Starliner would fly again.
