NASA decides to return Boeing Starliner to Earth uncrewed, Butch and Suni to return with Crew Dragon
On August 24, 2024, NASA conducted a live news conference on the status of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT-1). In this conference, they announced that they will return the Boeing Starliner spacecraft without crew, while the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return to Earth with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon on the Crew-9 mission. This will allow NASA and Boeing to gather more data on Starliner without endangering the crew, thus its decision to return to Earth uncrewed.
In case you missed it, the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT-1) launched on June 5, 2024, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket precisely at 10:52 AM ET. The spacecraft was successfully launched and deployed in its orbit to the International Space Station. On its way to the Space Station, it suffered helium leaks while some of its reaction control systems failed during its approach phase. Despite the issues, it successfully docked to the ISS on June 6, 2024, at 1:34 PM EDT, where the spacecraft was analyzed for its issues while both crew were safe in the haven of the ISS.
While both crews are expected to stay on the station, the Boeing Starliner in CFT-1 is expected to return to Earth uncrewed in early September, where it will autonomously undock, re-enter, and land by itself, finally departing from the Space Station after its mission. The fact that it will have no crew on its return will allow NASA and Boeing to have additional margins for whatever they have to test on the return trip, without endangering both of the crew. This additional testing is required as the problem on the current spacecraft used on this mission cannot be carried back to Earth, specifically for the service module, where most of the issues are occurring, as it will burn up during re-entry as it is jettisoned before that phase. This will help improve the spacecraft in future missions so that the difficulties that occurred in this mission will not be carried on to the next missions.
For SpaceX’s Crew-9, it is expected to have two crews onboard, instead of the planned four when it launches to free up two seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The seats will be used for the return trip to Earth, which means both crews will also stay on the station for the same duration as Crew-9, now planned to return in 2025. The Crew-9 mission is expected to launch no earlier than (NET) September 24, 2024, as NASA and SpaceX are currently reconfiguring various items for the mission such as the seats on the Dragon spacecraft, spacesuits that fit the two crew for the return trip, and many more.-end-This is KYNNMASTER 123 for The Weekly Spaceman, see you in the next one! 😊Resources and credits (photo credits are below each photo used):1. NASA updates: NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew - NASA2. Space.com: https://www.space.com/nasa-boeing-starliner-astronauts-will-return-on-spacex-dragon-2025