Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — stuck in space since June — will have to wait until next year for a ride home.
NASA has announced astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stuck in space since June will have to wait until next year for a ride home.
A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the Starliner capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the trip back. "Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
NASA's Norm Knight said he talked to the astronauts on Saturday and they fully support the decision to postpone their return.The SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents who have been there since March. They will return in late September, their stay extended a month by the Starliner dilemma. NASA said it would be unsafe to squeeze two more into the capsule, except in an emergency.
NASA went into its commercial crew program a decade ago wanting two competing U.S. companies ferrying astronauts in the post-shuttle era. Boeing won the bigger contract: more than $US4 billion , compared with SpaceX's $US2.6 billion.
Astronauts Space Boeing Starliner Butch Wilmore Suni Williams
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