Boeing Starliner astronauts stranded on the ISS since June may be rescued by Ilon Musk's rocket. What's known

A pair of veteran American astronauts, 58-year-old Sunita Williams and 61-year-old Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June, may be rescued by an Ilon Musk rocket. NASA officials have acknowledged that malfunctions on Boeing's new Starliner test capsule may be more serious than originally thought, and the astronauts may not be able to use it to return to Earth after all.

For months, the U.S. space agency assured that Williams and Wilmore would return on the Starliner, downplaying the problems with the capsule. However, due to the apparent malfunctions of the spacecraft, the cause of which engineers can not understand, NASA still decided to explore a backup option for the astronauts, writes Space.com.

Recall that the Boeing Starliner capsule launched from Florida aboard an Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024. However, a few hours later, the space agency reported that the capsule had two leaks. While the capsule was docking to the ISS on June 6, another leak was discovered, and a few days later, on June 10, another leak was spotted. In addition to the helium leak, five engines temporarily failed during the flight.

Engineers attempted to remotely repair the Boeing craft, but it was not possible to understand all the details of the malfunctions.

NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said the agency has brought in additional propulsion experts at other units, such as the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to see if they can spot anything that Boeing and CFT engineers may have missed during the capsule's extensive ground and space testing. But that takes time.

As a result, a mission that was supposed to last 8 days has already dragged on for more than 60 days. And it looks like it will end next year. After all, NASA is considering SpaceX's Crew-9 to return astronauts to Earth.

Under the contingency plan, the next SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will head to the space station with only two astronauts instead of four. Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore will then join as full space station crew members for six months and return home on Crew Dragon around February 2025.

Despite the rough plan for the upcoming mission, Steve Stich emphasized that a final decision has yet to be made, but it will need to be made by the middle of this month.

At the same time, a Boeing spokesman said he has faith in his ship. "We still believe in Starliner's capabilities and its flight rationale. If NASA decides to change the mission, we will take the steps necessary to customize the capsule for a crewless return," the spokesperson said.

OBOZ.UA previously wrote that the faulty Boeing Starliner left astronauts in a space trap for 54 days: and the end of it is not visible.

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