• NASA

Miami, US, Aug 7 (EFE). –

NASA announced Wednesday that it is studying the possibility of returning the two astronauts from Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in February 2025 aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.

The two crew members of Boeing’s first manned space mission, veteran NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, completed 63 days aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday, nearly seven weeks longer than planned due to technical problems with the Starliner.

During a teleconference, US space agency officials said there is still no return date.

They also announced they are considering returning them in February 2025 in a SpaceX Dragon capsule or even a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The agency expects to decide around mid-August. If it chooses that route, it will send Crew 9 in September to the ISS with only two crew members instead of four, as is standard for rotation missions.

The two remaining seats on Crew 9, scheduled to launch on Sept. 24, would be reserved for Wilmore and Williams, who would then be required to remain at the ISS for an additional six months.

“NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return,” NASA said in a statement.

“As we’ve said before, 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.” Steve Stich, NASA’s Manager for the Commercial Crew program said.

Dana Weigel, associate administrator for NASA’s International Space Station Program, said a “contingency plan” is being developed.

Wilmore and Williams were scheduled to return to Earth on Jun. 14, just eight days after their launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; however, fuel failures and small helium leaks prevented the Starliner return.

NASA and Boeing engineers continue to conduct tests on the Starliner’s 27 engines at White Sands in New Mexico to understand the cause of their degradation and how it may affect the crew’s return.

NASA and Space X announced Tuesday that the launch of the Crew 9 mission, scheduled for Aug. 18 was delayed until Sept. 24.

The adjustment will allow further testing and planning for the Starliner’s return, which aims to obtain NASA certifications so that the spacecraft can function as a second transportation provider to the ISS, as SpaceX already does. EFE

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