Photo; NASA/Robert Markowitz
NASA has decided astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come home in February 2025 on a SpaceX Crew Dragon from the International Space Station (ISS) due to concerns about the performance of the Boeing's Starliner spacecraft they were on. The agency will send them home on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission, which is scheduled to launch to the ISS in late September.
By the time Wilmore and Williams depart, they will have spent about eight months on the space station. The Starliner flight test was only scheduled to last a little over a week.
The decision came after a thorough review of Starliner's thrusters, which have proven difficult to predict. NASA officials expressed concerns about the possibility of pushing through with a crewed return flight. The potential risks to the astronauts during the undocking and deorbit phases of the flight were too high, according to Steve Stich, manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Starliner will return to Earth uncrewed, allowing NASA to conduct additional testing and address the thruster issues. The agency plans to undock the spacecraft from the ISS in early September.
To accommodate Wilmore and Williams, Crew-9 will be reconfigured to carry only two astronauts instead of four. Dragon spacesuits will be added to the cargo for the returning crew.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized the importance of safety in spaceflight and the need for a culture where employees can raise concerns without fear. He noted that the decision to keep Wilmore and Williams on the ISS was based on a commitment to their safety.