NASA to Decide on Return Method for Astronauts Boeing's Starliner or SpaceX's Dragon

TapTechNews August 23rd news, NASA will hold a press conference at local time on Saturday (1:00 a.m. Beijing time on Sunday) to announce its final decision on the way two astronauts return to Earth, that is, either Boeing's Starliner or SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

Boeing launched its first manned space mission of the Starliner on June 5th. It was originally planned to stay at the International Space Station for eight days, but due to problems such as thruster failure and helium leak, the spaceship's return time has been postponed repeatedly, and the two astronauts have been stranded in space for more than two months so far.

NASA and Boeing are collecting space and ground data about the Starliner's thrusters and helium system to better understand potential technical challenges. The review will include mission status updates, technical data reviews, and certification flight reasons to achieve evacuation and return from the space station.

According to NASA's introduction, Boeing has been working for months to allay NASA's concerns about the Starliner's problems through new test data that the company claims has verified the safety of the capsule for astronauts, and NASA is weighing these data against the low-risk tolerance in the mission.

Referring to TapTechNews' previous report, NASA has prepared a Plan B, that is, to provide two seats for two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, in SpaceX's Dragon mission.

If NASA chooses to execute Plan B, it means that Wilmore and Williams will have to wait until the end of the Crew-9 mission in February 2025 to go home, and the Starliner will attempt an unmanned return.

If NASA believes that the Starliner can ensure the safety of the two astronauts, then the agency may make a return decision in the next month to vacate the docking port of the International Space Station for the SpaceX mission.

There is no doubt that this decision is very crucial for Boeing, which has been struggling to develop the Starliner to compete with SpaceX. Filing documents show that Boeing has lost 1.6 billion US dollars (TapTechNews note: currently about 11.429 billion yuan) in this project.

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The way to return to Earth is still not determined, and NASA astronauts have a long communication with the Boeing team.