NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams have revealed they rejected a rescue plan on Boeing’s Starliner due to “lack of time.”
The couple has They have been trapped on the International Space Station since Starliner brought them there. June 6th.
Although Starliner returned to Earth uncrewed on September 7, the duo continues to await SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which will pick them up at the ISS and bring them home no earlier than February 2025.
The option of returning the astronauts on the Starliner was considered, but NASA ultimately decided that there were high risks associated with it and that it could result in their deaths.
At a recent press conference, Wilmore said they were running out of time to fully test the spacecraft’s systems so they could make a decision on how to return.
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams have revealed they rejected a rescue plan on Boeing’s Starliner due to “lack of time”
The father of two explained that they were unable to complete testing on the Starliner’s onboard systems in time to avoid disrupting the ISS schedule for other spacecraft arriving in the coming months.
“There were things we just weren’t comfortable with. The data could have gotten there, but we just ran out of time,” he said.
Wilmore acknowledged the series of setbacks, saying there have been “some difficult moments” since the start of its mission, and it was difficult to see Starliner returning home without them.
Their extended stay has also been challenging for their families on Earth. Wilmore and his wife have two daughters, one who is a senior in high school and another who is in college.
A complete timeline of Boeing’s Starliner program, from the announcement of its mass outreach to the incident that left two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS.
At a recent press conference, Wilmore said they were running out of time to fully test the spacecraft’s systems in order to make a decision on how to return.
Wilmore said the delayed return mission will cause her to miss most of her youngest daughter’s senior year of high school, and she was unable to spend the summer with her oldest daughter before she returned to college.
But he hopes his absence will make them stronger. “They will learn from this and grow from it,” he said.
Sunita left her husband and two dogs at home when Starliner took off more than three months ago.
She said she misses walking her dogs in the morning and listening to the sounds of the beginning of the day on Earth, like birdsong.
But being able to watch his home planet pass by from the ISS window “transports you to a different place, it’s very peaceful up here,” he said.
Starliner launched on June 5 with the intention of docking at the ISS for about a week before returning Wilmore and Williams safely to Earth.
The father of two explained that they were unable to complete testing on the systems aboard the Starliner in time to avoid disrupting the ISS schedule for other spacecraft arriving in the coming months.
Williams and Wilmore will remain on the ISS for another six months after NASA decided that risking a return flight on Starliner could cost them their lives.
But the mission had already gotten off to a rocky start. In the preceding weeks, the launch had been delayed several times due to technical problems with the spacecraft.
Even on liftoff day, Starliner experienced small helium leaks that engineers determined were not severe enough to delay the launch again.
From there, it was all downhill. By the time Starliner reached the ISS, it had suffered more helium leaks and five of its 18 thrusters had failed.
Williams said that because she and Wilmore used to work in the Navy, they are familiar with last-minute logistical changes like this.
“We’re not surprised when deployments are modified,” he said, adding that their families understand.
“It’s risky and that’s how the business works,” he said.