The launch of the Crew-9 mission from SpaceXan undertaking planned to take four astronauts to International Space Station — which can also serve as a backup vehicle for the crew assigned to the troubled ship Boeing Starliner — will be postponed, NASA (United States space agency) announced on Tuesday (6).
The space agency said the change “allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning” for the Starliner and its crew, according to a written update from the space agency. NASA will hold a press conference about the change on Wednesday at 1:30 pm (Brasília time).
NASA’s brief update comes as rumors swirl about the fate of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which remained attached to the space station for approximately seven weeks longer than expected, leaving behind its two crew members — veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — in limbo aboard the orbiting laboratory.
NASA now says SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission will not launch until September 24 at the earliest.
In July, the agency indicated that SpaceX could launch its Crew-9 mission as early as August 18 — following Williams and Wilmore’s return to Earth aboard the Starliner.
Boeing also said on July 25 that engineers had conducted rigorous ground testing and identified the likely root cause of the problems the Starliner experienced in June on the first leg of its historic crewed test flight — including five thrusters that abruptly stopped working. and helium leaks that appeared along the way. This testing and discovery process, officials said, was designed to pave the way for NASA to determine whether the Starliner could bring Williams and Wilmore home.
But now those efforts appear to be stalled. NASA had said on July 26 that it expected to begin a “flight readiness review” for the Starliner in the first few days of August. That review process has not yet begun, NASA confirmed to CNN, because the space agency has not yet decided on a target return date.
Ultimately, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will make the final decision on how and when Williams and Wilmore return home, according to Meira Bernstein, NASA’s acting press secretary.
“His top priority, as always, is the safety of the crew,” Bernstein said.
SpaceX and Boeing employees will not participate in Wednesday’s press conference, leaving the work of addressing the uncertain status of both missions — SpaceX’s Crew-9 and Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test — exclusively to the officials. of the space agency.
Starliner’s uncertain future
NASA told reporters in July that the Starliner will have to fly home exclusively under computer control, even if there are astronauts on board.
Although Boeing and the space agency allowed Williams and Wilmore to briefly take control of the Starliner en route to the space station, engineers later determined that manual operations caused increased strain on the propulsion system.
“Some of the manual maneuvers put extra stress on the thrusters,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, on July 25.
Boeing, however, has not changed its position: The company maintains that it has worked to understand the Starliner’s propulsion issues and is confident that the vehicle is safe to bring its crew home, according to a statement from the company. August 2.
Williams and Wilmore docked at the space station on June 6 and have now been there for 62 days as mission teams conduct tests and analyzes to determine the cause of thruster problems and helium leaks.
NASA has said that turning to SpaceX to step in and bring the Starliner astronauts home was a contingency for the mission, but the space agency has consistently said it is not the desired scenario.
“There are many good reasons to complete this mission and bring Butch and Suni home on the Starliner,” Stich said during the July briefing.
Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, added: “Of course, I’m very confident that we have a good vehicle to bring the crew back.”
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