NASA examines all options to ensure astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return home safely after eight weeks aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. The vehicle was launched into orbit via an Atlas V rocket and is heading for ISS with a return date of June 14 planned.
What began with the innocent reassurances from NASA and Boeing that these minor issues like helium leaks and failing thrusters wouldn’t take a big toll on the mission has taken on another dimension. It was Mark Nappi, vice president and manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, who had dismissed such apprehensions by saying, “Those are pretty small, really, issues to deal with. We’ll figure them out for the next mission. I don’t see these as significant at all.”.
However, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the technical issues persisted. Perhaps the most significant problem has been the failure of many reaction control system thrusters, called NORAD thrusters, which are essential to steer Starliner while it is departing from the ISS and to set up the crucial re-entry burn that puts the vehicle into Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA and Boeing’s ground teams have conducted rigorous testing in recent weeks. A thruster was tested on a stand at White Sands, New Mexico, and last weekend, the spacecraft’s thrusters were fired in orbit to assess their performance while it was docked at the ISS. Preliminary results from those tests, NASA said, proved useful.
But just a week ago, when queried about contingency plans in case Starliner’s thrusters can’t be trusted to get it home, NASA’s program manager for commercial crew, Steve Stich, didn’t want to talk about contingency plans. “We’re going to complete the mission,” he said then. “We’re going to bring Wilmore and Williams home in Starliner. Starliner was designed, as a spacecraft, to have the crew in the cockpit.”
That may change, however, with recent developments indicating that the astronauts will ride back to Earth in a Crew Dragon spacecraft—not Starliner. Sources now say the likelihood is better than 50-50 that the crew will ride back on Dragon. Others have said it’s much more likely than not. NASA will make a final decision soon. That decision is likely to be made by Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator.
While NASA and Boeing remain while reviewing options, what has continued to stand out most is the safety and return of the crew.