The last time I reported on the Boeing Starliner crew, whose 8-day jaunt to the International Space Station (ISS) as morphed into a 9-month expedition, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had tasked SpaceX to retrieve the stranded astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.
After several delays and a change in crew plans, they will be back on Earth around March 19th.
To minimize the disruption to the station’s crew rotation schedule and on-going research, NASA opted to bump two astronauts from the next SpaceX Crew Dragon flight and to launch that mission, known as Crew 9, in late September with just two crew members on board. That left two empty seats for Wilmore and Williams.The Crew 9 mission was initially expected to end this month, but the flight was extended to late March because of issues preparing a new Crew Dragon for launch, sources said. NASA later decided to use a different Crew Dragon, clearing the way for Crew 9 to undock and head for Earth around March 19.
Meanwhile, there are some indications that there is a controversy around reports that the astronauts were not brought home sooner due to Biden’s choices related to the presidential campaign occurring during the same time.
To begin with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk asserts he offered to bring Wilmore and Williams homes sooner, but it was rejected.
Then, Wilmore indicated he believed Musk.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore made the comment Tuesday during an in-orbit press conference with fellow castaway Sunita Williams nine months after their Boeing Starliner capsule malfunctioned and left the pair stuck on the ISS.One questioner asked about Musk’s recent claim that former President Joe Biden had intentionally stalled their rescue for “political reasons.”In an earlier question, Wilmore denied that politics had anything to do with the team’s delayed departure, but he seemed to shift his stance when answering the later question.“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual … I believe him,” he said.
During the press conference, Wimore noted they were not aware of any offers.
…”So I believe him. I don’t know all those details, and I don’t think any of us really can give you the answer that maybe that you would be hoping for,’ he added.The astronaut then gushed over Trump and Musk, saying ‘we have the utmost respect for them.’
However, it should be noted that Bill Nelson, who served as NASA administrator during the interval in question, also said that any offer by Musk never reached his office.
He said the top leadership at the space agency spent weeks trying to figure out the safest way to bring them home, ultimately deciding that SpaceX’s Dragon was a better option than Boeing’s Starliner. Nelson added that an early return was never discussed by him, his deputy or the heads of the agency’s human spaceflight division.
Of course, since then, we have learned about how bureaucrats can withhold essential information if they deem it politically expedient.
When they get to Earth, Wilmore and Williams won’t be heading straight home. They are going to have to undergo several weeks of physical therapy.
When the crew emerges from the SpaceX capsule on either March 19 or 20, they will be immediately placed on stretches and immediately taken for medical evaluations.Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist and Air Force veteran said the astronauts could need up to six weeks of rehabilitation to regain their strength, which will include guided exercise and a nutritional plan.The crew will begin their rehabilitation program the very same day they return to Earth, with the first phase focusing on walking, flexibility and muscle strengthening.
The launch date for the SpaceX Crew rescue ship is March 12. While it is sad they will be missing the St. Patrick’s Day festivities on top of all the other holidays that have passed while they were in orbit, here’s hoping the luck of the Irish is with Williams and Wilmore and they are home as scheduled.
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