Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to rescue two astronauts who have been stranded in space since June after problems with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson Announced During a press conference on Saturday, it was announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew 9 mission in February of next year.
Wilmore and Williams have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since the Starliner spacecraft crashed. Experienced There were five thruster failures and five helium leaks.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Sonny will return aboard Crew 9 next February and Starliner will return uncrewed,” Nelson explained.
The astronauts launched from Florida on June 5 and were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13. However, NASA later announced on June 18 that the astronauts were now scheduled to return on June 26.
During the astronauts’ 25-hour spaceflight, engineers noticed an issue with the Starliner spacecraft’s thrusters, causing it to leak helium.
“Space flight involves risks, even at its safest and most routine times,” Nelson said, “and test flights are by no means safe or routine. The decision to leave Butch and Suni behind on the International Space Station and return an uncrewed Boeing Starliner is the result of a commitment to safety.”
Boeing employees have slammed the decision to have SpaceX rescue the NASA astronauts as “shameful.”
“There’s been so much embarrassment recently and we’re under so much scrutiny,” one Boeing employee said. said of New York Post“This just made it 100 times worse.”
The employee added that Boeing employees hate SpaceX and are “always badmouthing SpaceX.”
“It’s embarrassing,” he added. “It’s embarrassing and it’s horrifying.”
NASA said in early August that it was “considering all options” for returning Williams and Wilmore.
