NASA must decide by the end of August whether to return two astronauts to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that carried them to the International Space Station (ISS) or a competing SpaceX spacecraft, officials said Wednesday.
NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Sunni” Williams launched to the International Space Station aboard the Starliner on June 5, initially scheduled for an eight-day stay. However, their return was delayed by a thruster failure that occurred during the first crewed mission to the ISS by Boeing's spacecraft.
NASA officials said at a news conference Wednesday that they were still analyzing data from the thrusters, but that a decision was imminent on whether to use the Starliner spacecraft or another SpaceX vehicle. They said they had had “very frank discussions” with Boeing and that the company “has 100 percent confidence in their vehicle.”
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If the decision is made not to use Starliner, SpaceX, owned by entrepreneur Elon Musk and a competitor to Boeing, could launch the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station scheduled for September 24 with just two astronauts, instead of the usual four.
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