(DailyVantage.com) – NASA said last weekend that the two stranded astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) would remain aboard until February when they would return home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck aboard the ISS since early June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced thruster failures on its approach.
NASA officials said in early August that the agency was in talks with SpaceX to keep two seats available for the astronauts on the February flight of the Crew Dragon. Last Saturday’s decision to wait until February puts an end to the months of speculation over when and how to get Williams and Wilmore back to Earth.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters last Saturday that the agency’s decision to bring the Boeing Starliner back to Earth without the crew was a reflection of NASA’s “commitment to safety.”
Nelson said the lessons NASA learned from the two space shuttle disasters played a large part in the agency’s decision.
Associate administrator Jim Free told reporters that while the decision was not an easy one, it was “absolutely the right one.”
The decision is a blow to Boeing, which hoped that the maiden voyage of Starliner would revive its floundering space program after years of delays.
The company said in a statement last weekend that it would continue to focus on crew and spacecraft safety. Boeing said it was preparing the Starliner for its “safe and successful return” to Earth.
While there is a SpaceX capsule currently docked at the ISS, it is reserved for the four astronauts who have been at the station since March. The four astronauts will return in September. NASA said it would have been unsafe to include Williams and Wilmore on that flight.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich told reporters that while Boeing expressed confidence in its Starliner, the decision to wait until February to bring the astronauts home on Crew Dragon was unanimous.
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