CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been three months since two NASA astronauts found themselves stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) because of a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
On Saturday, NASA announced plans to use a SpaceX Dragon Capsule to bring the astronauts home. That will not happen until February, NASA officials said.
The Starliner, once believed to be a new era in American spaceflight, has been plagued by technical issues since its inception. Malfunctioning thrusters and a leaking helium tank have prevented the spacecraft from returning to Earth.
NASA said Thursday it will decide this weekend whether Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to return two astronauts from the International Space Station, where they’ve been waiting since June.
Administrator Bill Nelson and other top officials will meet Saturday. An announcement is expected from Houston once the meeting ends.
Engineers back on Earth have been working to diagnose and fix the problems. Using a replica test engine, they think they’ve pinpointed the root cause. However, uncertainty remains, and additional time is needed before a solution can be implemented in space.
The prolonged stay on the ISS has forced NASA to consider alternative return options. One possibility is to utilize a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to retrieve the stranded astronauts. If this route is chosen, the astronauts could be forced to remain aboard the station until at least September.
This mission is Boeing's first astronaut flight, delayed for years by a multitude of capsule problems. Two previous Starliner test flights had no one on board.
NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago, after the space shuttles retired, to ferry its astronauts to and from the station. SpaceX has been at it since 2020.
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