NASA Delays SpaceX 'Crew-9' Mission and Boeing's Starliner Woes

TapTechNews August 7th news, NASA announced on Tuesday that the SpaceX "Crew-9" mission originally scheduled to transport four astronauts to the International Space Station will be postponed. This mission was also originally regarded as a backup return plan for the crew of Boeing's embattled Starliner spacecraft.

NASA said that this move is to "give mission managers more time to finally determine the return plan of the Starliner and its crew". The agency will hold a press conference at 12:30 PM Eastern Time on Wednesday (TapTechNews note: 0:30 AM Beijing time on Thursday).

When NASA's brief statement was released, speculation about the fate of Boeing's "Starliner" spacecraft was rife. The spacecraft has stayed at the space station for about seven weeks longer than expected, resulting in its two crew members - experienced NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore - being trapped in the orbital laboratory.

NASA now says that the "Crew-9" mission will not be launched until at least September 24th.

In July, the agency had said that SpaceX might launch the "Crew-9" mission as early as August 18th, that is, after Williams and Wilmore returned to Earth on the "Starliner".

Boeing also said on July 25th that engineers had conducted rigorous ground tests and narrowed down the source of potential problems that occurred during the first manned test flight of the "Starliner" in June, including the sudden stoppage of five thrusters and the helium leak that occurred during the flight. Officials said that this testing and discovery process is aimed at paving the way for NASA to decide whether to send Williams and Wilmore back to Earth.

But now, these efforts seem to have stalled. NASA had said that it was expected to begin the "flight readiness review" of the "Starliner" in the first few days of August. NASA confirmed to CNN that the review process has not begun because the agency has not yet determined the target return date.

According to NASA acting press secretary Mera Bernstein, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will make the final decision on how and when Williams and Wilmore will return to Earth. "His top priority has always been to ensure the safety of the crew," Bernstein said.

NASA told reporters in July that the "Starliner" must return to Earth completely under computer control, even if there are astronauts on the spacecraft.

Although Boeing and NASA allowed Williams and Wilmore to briefly take over the control of the "Starliner" on their way to the space station, engineers later determined that manual operation increased the pressure on the propulsion system.

However, Boeing has not wavered from its stance: The company insists that it has worked hard to understand the propulsion problems of the "Starliner" and believes that the vehicle can safely send the crew back to Earth.

Williams and Wilmore docked with the space station on June 6th and have now been there for 61 days, and the mission team has conducted tests and analyses to determine the cause of the thruster problem and the helium leak.

NASA said that using SpaceX to step in and bring back the "Starliner" astronauts is an emergency plan for this mission, but the agency has always said that this is not an ideal situation.