NASA Considers Both Boeing and SpaceX Options for Bringing Starliner Astronauts Back to Earth
SpaceX Dragon has made over 20 trips to the International Space Station, while Boeing’s men have been waiting over 50 days to hitch a ride back home.
The last time we checked on the Starliner astronauts, they were sheltering with others in the International Space Station (ISS) after the facility was threatened by debris from a Russian satellite that was breaking apart.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are test pilots for the Boeing Starliner. They were originally scheduled to return home in June, after completing a test flight spacecraft. However, their departure has been delayed while NASA and Boeing engineers continue to study the misbehaving thrusters on the vehicle and try to fix the issue.
The Starliner crew has now been aboard the ISS over 50 days, with no indication of a fix from Boeing. New reports indicate that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is considering both Boeing and SpaceX vehicle options for returning the Starliner crew back to Earth.
NASA management has been in deep discussion this week about whether to return the agency’s astronauts on board Boeing’s misfiring Starliner capsule or to go with the alternative of using a SpaceX craft to rescue the crew.
The agency’s concern with Starliner — which flew NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station in early June — comes from not having identified a root cause for why some of the spacecraft’s thrusters failed during docking, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC.
NASA this week has been discussing the possibility of returning Starliner empty and instead using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to return its astronauts. There is no consensus among those responsible for making the decision, that person said, calling the outcome of NASA’s ongoing discussions unpredictable given the variety of factors involved.
NASA officials are being very vague about how seriously they are considering the possible use of a SpaceX Dragon.
One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would. To be clear, NASA has not made a final decision. This probably will not happen until at least next week. It is likely that Jim Free, NASA’s associate administrator, will make the call.
Asked if it was now more likely than not that Starliner’s crew would return on Dragon, NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars on Thursday evening, ” NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible. No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning.”
The chances of a SpaceX Dragon success in regards to returning the astronauts seems…high.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 6,000 kgs / 13,228 lbs of cargo to the Station and returning 3,000 kgs / 6,614 lbs of cargo back to Earth. To date, Dragon has made over 20 trips to the orbiting laboratory.
The Dragon spacecraft is capable of carrying up to 7 passengers to and from Earth orbit and beyond. The pressurized section of the capsule is designed to carry both people and environmentally sensitive cargo. Toward the base of the capsule and contained within the nosecone are the Draco thrusters, which allow for orbital maneuvering.
But, perhaps with new leadership, Boeing’s space program as well as its other operations might have more of a success trajectory.
As for Boeing, it just named former Rockwell Collins CEO Kelly Ortberg to turn things around. He succeeds current CEO Dave Calhoun.
Ortberg has to improve production quality, supply-chain performance, ramp up plane production, fix Boeing’s ailing balance sheet, negotiate a new labor contract with a key union, get new products certified, and improve profit margins in the company’s defense business.
So, Starliner is a concern, but Ortberg has so much more on his plate.
Perhaps Boeing should consider less DEI and more MEI: Merit – Excellence – Intelligence.
One side note: I believe this underscores the importance of competition in the Space Race. This concept was explored in a wonderful AppleTV production, “For All Mankind”, which I enjoyed with my son this summer.
The Boeing-SpaceX news almost seems like it is from the script of this remarkable show.
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Comments
NASA stop being political
Save the astronauts life’s
SpaceX… period..
One of the reports I saw indicated that among the factors in choosing that “50-50” Starliner -v- Space X was an insistence that if it was Space X that it not be done until after the election.
Subotai Bahadur
Musk supports Trump
Let’s put the astronauts life in jeopardy
Send another Boeing spacecraft. What, strand two crews in space.
Lol
If I was one of those astronauts and they me Boeing was coming to the rescue, I’d say thanks, but no thanks. I’ll just hang out here.
Yup.
“NASA Considers Both Boeing and SpaceX Options for Bringing Starliner Astronauts Back”
Do the astronauts get a veto?
“Yeah, just send up a couple cans of spray insulation and a parachute, I’ll manage it myself.”
In the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I say give this to Space X. It is, after all, a company that is owned by an African American.
Stranded by Woke politics
I don’t think it is “woke politics” at all. Boeing went from being an engineering company to being one run by MBAs chasing positive quarterlies. And, even money says they are all, or virtually all WASPs. No DEI or quota hiring there. No rainbow flags, no BLM banners in that board room.
Disagree.
That article was obviously someone from Kent/Renton Wa.
My neighbor (before I moved to TN) was a career tooling guy in the factory (union position). Real time experience impacting actual production. On top of the DEI stuff- he described them as a criminal enterprise in gutting the pension. Another friend (gym friend) described the amount of unsanctioned and undocumented/uninspected rework happening… its beyond belief at the non-union sites.
As per the “MBAs” look no further than the architects of DEI in the corporate world: McKinsey.
Negative Ghost Rider.
Biiiiiiiig Negatory on that one.
I have a “friend” who works there. Wink. Wink.
Sorry, Griz, but in 2022 Boeing set diversity hiring quotas for their managers, and based their bonuses on meeting those quotas. That set the emphasis on DEI equal to safety or greater.
https://nypost.com/2024/01/11/business/elon-musk-rips-boeing-they-prioritized-dei-over-safety/
thanks for posting that link- I was debating this with someone- and had searched through the 10k filing and couldn’t find it in the most recent filings. It may have been scrubbed since then for the more vague language I saw in the 10k.
I stand corrected. Thanks very much.
1964: “Progress is our most important product.”
2024: “Competence is not an option.”
Stranded? They could die up there.
They aren’t alone up their… A Dragon capsule is there for emergency evacuation. This is just inconvenient and expending the station’s spare resources.
I think they have moved from “test pilots” to “hostages”, at this point.
Imagine sitting at the space station and realizing you are now a political/corporate pawn and that neither of those sides gives a schiff if you return only that their agenda is fulfilled.
I do hope those guys come back and hold a press conference and air out exactly what they felt while waiting for some politically convenient answer to eventually emerge.
I believe it was John Glenn who once upon a time commented that as he was hurtling through space, he was considering the fact that every piece of the craft he was riding was built by the lowest bidder.
The US gubmint has top men working on it.
Top. Men.