Starliner to Return without Her Crew

Kennedy Space Center, FL. Today, August 24, 2024, in a not so surprising decision, today, NASA and other agencies involved made the announcement that Starliner will return to Earth empty of its’ crew sometime in September.

With a delay in the original launch date and the historic flight, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, took off for a week long journey to the International Space Station (I.S.S.), when back on June 5, 2024 the Boeing Starliner “Calypso” capsule was on its way into history with the flight of the Crew Flight Test 1 (C.F.T) mission. However, after making orbit, Starliner had already begun a series of problems that postponed arrival at the station. While arriving at the station behind schedule, the capsule and crew docked at the station.

Image Credit:  Michael Howard

Delayed for years, the Starliner has been plagued with setbacks and issues dating back years. This is not something that came with this single flight. Back in May of 2022, the OFT-2 launch had been delayed when it was originally scheduled for July 30, 2021, however the launch was delayed to August 3, 2021 due to a situation with the International Space Station. During those launch activities; there was a scrub of the flight due to Starliner valve issues. These valve issues required the return of the Atlas V to the Vertical Integration Facility and Starliner returning to the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. In December 2019, OFT-1 failed to reach the ISS due to a faulty timer and made an early return to Earth landing at White Sands in New Mexico.

Image Credit:  Michael Howard

For a project that has drained the financial pocket book of Boeing to the tune of $1.5 billion due to engineering & management changes as well as numerous delays, the decision announced today in Houston, Tx by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson that Astronauts Suni Williams & Butch Wilmore will not be returning to earth on the spacecraft that they left from, but on a SpaceX Dragon, now scheduled for February, 2025.

In a statement from NASA: “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work.”

In a continuing statement from NASA: “Decisions like this are never easy, but I want to commend our NASA and Boeing teams for their thorough analysis, transparent discussions, and focus on safety during the Crew Flight Test,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station.”

Faced with more uncertainty as to the complete health of the Starliner, and most certain and finally of paramount importance, the safety of the 2 astronauts, the decision was reached to not have the astronauts return aboard the Starliner.

In reviewing options and coming to a final decision, one needs to remember that the best engineers in the world are working as a team on this issue with the word safety in every discussion.  Story by:  Graham Smith and Michael Howard.  Images:  Michael Howard, Graham Smith and Michael Seeley for We Report Space