NASA officials may have noticed obvious problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which left two astronauts in space for nearly two months due to technical problems. And these problems have gone too far to say that “all is well”.
According to Ars Technica, if NASA concludes after all the tests that the Starliner’s engines aren’t reliable enough for a return trip to Earth, the astronauts will have to be rescued on another spacecraft. There is now more than a 50 percent chance that the astronauts will return to Earth in a SpaceX Dragon capsule rather than a Starliner.
NASA officials have expressed more caution, which contrasts greatly with their previous confidence in Starliner’s ability to return astronauts safely to Earth. NASA has not yet made its final decision – probably it will happen next week.
“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,” NASA spokesman Josh Finch said.
Problematic Starliner
The Starliner project has faced numerous problems from the beginning, which has already resulted in about $1.6 billion in losses for Boeing. Despite technical problems, NASA made the first crewed flight of Starliner in June. During its approach to the space station, the Starliner experienced a helium leak and engine problems, forcing NASA and Boeing to delay the return of the spacecraft with astronauts to fix the problems.
There are indications that SpaceX will be rescuing trapped astronauts. NASA has given more than a quarter million dollars to SpaceX for a special study to respond to emergencies, and SpaceX is actively preparing for a possible mission to send a Dragon capsule to the space station to return astronauts.
If SpaceX receives a request for a rescue mission, the Starliner project could with a high probability be permanently shut down. It would be a complete failure, as the U.S. government has already spent $5.8 billion of taxpayer dollars on the ineffective project.
If Starliner is recognized as not safe enough to fly, politicians and others should investigate the reasons, given that SpaceX has built a more reliable Dragon capsule for less cost. How did NASA conduct oversight of the Starliner program during its development and production? This is just one of many complex questions.
Earlier we reported on how NASA postponed the launch of a new mission to the ISS due to problems with the Starliner.
