{"id":787779,"date":"2024-08-24T13:17:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T18:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=787779"},"modified":"2024-08-24T13:17:56","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T18:17:56","slug":"2-stranded-astronauts-will-return-to-earth-on-spacex-not-boeings-starliner-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=787779","title":{"rendered":"2 stranded astronauts will return to Earth on SpaceX, not Boeing’s Starliner : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 13.
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Boeing\u2019s Starliner will come back to Earth empty, and the two astronauts who took it up into orbit on a test flight will return in a capsule built by a competing company, SpaceX.<\/p>\n

The long-awaited decision by NASA means the astronauts will have to cool their heels on the International Space Station until February.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a stunning blow to Boeing’s beleaguered Starliner program, which has been beset by delays and technical troubles.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine. And a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine,\u201d NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a press briefing on Saturday, who cited the loss of two space shuttles and their crews in the past. \u201cOur core value is safety and it is our north star.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n This long-duration photo shows Boeing\u2019s Starliner docked to the International Space Station at night, with the Earth whizzing by below.
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In early June, astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore<\/u> and Sunita “Suni” Williams<\/u> blasted off in Starliner on a trip to the station that was supposed to last about eight days–but now it will be eight months.<\/p>\n