Boeing Starliner astronauts finally head home, nine months later

Eight days. That’s however agelong Boeing Starliner’s ngo — its archetypal formation trial with unit aboard — was expected to last. But this ngo has been singular successful astir each way, and astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams person alternatively spent the past 9 and a fractional months aboard the International Space Station.

Now, finally, they're headed home. Their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule is slated to statesman undocking from the ISS astatine 1:05 americium ET Tuesday and is scheduled for splashdown astatine 5:57 p.m. ET, according to NASA's timetable. (Portions of the ngo volition watercourse unrecorded connected the agency's website.)

The Starliner unit was ne'er genuinely stranded, to beryllium clear. They ever had a mode disconnected the abstraction presumption successful an emergency. But if this mission's foibles taught america 1 thing, it was to expect the unexpected. Even now, six months aft the troubled spacecraft autonomously undocked from the ISS and landed astatine White Sands Missile Range successful New Mexico, leaving its unit down and efficaciously ending the formation test, the ngo is inactive making headlines. Boeing Starliner CFT went from a awesome of the myriad struggles successful Boeing’s aviation concern to a governmental punching bag, courtesy of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

Why did it instrumentality truthful agelong to bring the astronauts home? And did NASA cave to governmental unit successful mounting the instrumentality date? Lets instrumentality a look astatine however we got present and what the grounds suggests.

Starliner was floundering good earlier liftoff

Boeing Starliner had a long, troubled past earlier it adjacent got disconnected the ground. Back successful 2014, the Space Shuttle epoch had ended, and the United States was babelike connected Russian Soyuz capsules to alert its astronauts. To remedy this, NASA awarded 2 companies — Boeing and SpaceX — Commercial Crew contracts to physique caller spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.

The authoritative people day for a crewed formation trial for these 2 companies was flexible. But, according to a 2016 study from William Gerstenmaier, the agency’s caput of quality spaceflight astatine the time, it was wide NASA expected these objection flights to hap successful 2017. (Gerst present works for SpaceX.)

Obviously, that did not happen. SpaceX’s uncrewed orbital trial occurred successful 2019, portion the crewed objection formation was successful 2020. Boeing besides yet launched its Starliner capsule to the ISS for an uncrewed trial successful December 2019. However, that formation went truthful severely (the capsule did not scope its intended orbit oregon dock with the station) that NASA required Boeing to instrumentality fixes and execute a 2nd trial successful May 2022. That trial went mostly well, though 2 of the capsule’s thrusters failed during the orbital insertion burn, and post-flight inspections revealed astir a mile of flammable portion successful the capsule wiring which required removal.

The May 2024 motorboat was delayed a fewer times owed to rocket issues and problems with crushed systems. NASA and Boeing besides detected a helium leak successful the propellant strategy (helium is utilized to propulsion propellant to the thrusters). They attributed it to a defective seal, but aft the spacecraft launched connected June 5, it sprung a full of 5 helium leaks. What’s more, 5 thrusters failed connected attack to the ISS.

Astronauts Wilmore and Williams were capable to successfully dock with the ISS, but their ngo changed importantly successful those fewer hours; they had to fig retired what, exactly, was incorrect with the spacecraft and whether it was harmless to bring them home.

It’s important to retrieve that NASA has lone tested six full caller crewed spacecraft (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Space Shuttle, SpaceX Crew Dragon, and Boeing Starliner). It’s a precise hard process, and everyone expects determination to beryllium problems — that’s wherefore NASA does these tests. But adjacent for a trial flight, this was bad.

Eight days to 9 months

Over the summertime of 2024, NASA softly tested and re-tested Starliner’s thrusters, some successful orbit and connected the ground, to find retired wherefore the thrusters failed. In the lack of meaningful updates from NASA, radical started to earnestly question whether the bureau thought Starliner was harmless to bring the astronauts home.

In mid-July, NASA paid SpaceX to survey bringing much than 4 astronauts location connected a azygous Crew Dragon capsule, arsenic good arsenic launching 2 astronauts connected a Crew Dragon alternatively of the accustomed four. The bureau insisted this was related to Frank Rubio’s extended enactment connected the ISS the twelvemonth before. However, astatine a property league successful aboriginal August, Commercial Crew programme manager Steve Stich confirmed that, successful July, NASA had started moving with SpaceX connected contingency scenarios for Butch and Suni’s imaginable return, arsenic they continued to troubleshoot Starliner’s faulty thrusters.

Finally connected August 24, NASA announced that Starliner would instrumentality to Earth uncrewed. There were superior issues with Starliner’s propulsion system. NASA was acrophobic astir a worst-case script successful which the thrusters failed and, astatine the aforesaid time, the helium leak rates increased. This could person near the astronauts successful orbit, incapable to execute a re-entry burn. Butch and Suni would go portion of SpaceX's ninth Commercial Crew formation (aptly named Crew-9), which would motorboat connected September 28 with conscionable 2 astronauts. They would service retired the remainder of this mission, which would support them connected the ISS done mid- to late-February.

But wherefore permission them successful abstraction until 2025? The bottommost enactment is that the bureau chose the slightest risky option. An other instrumentality ngo would person added unnecessary complexity. “Relative to sending up a caller Dragon truthful that Butch and Sunny didn't person to enactment up until February, we truly ne'er considered that option,” Steve Stich, the programme manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, explained astatine a property league connected August 7. Plus, it takes astir 4 months to hole a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for launch, and the other outgo would person been excessively overmuch for NASA to absorb.

Astronauts are accustomed to ngo delays and extensions; Frank Rubio had his ISS long-duration enactment extended from 6 months to implicit 1 twelvemonth due to the fact that of a leaky Soyuz capsule, yet returning to Earth aft a record-breaking 371 days successful space. NASA astronauts tin grip a twelvemonth successful space.

“While it's not large to enactment up determination longer, the ISS has the due countermeasures to support their wellness retired to a twelvemonth astatine least,” Dr. Dan Buckland, a abstraction medicine researcher astatine Duke University explained to Engadget successful an email. “Put different way, the expected betterment clip connected Earth mightiness get longer the longer they stay, but the wellness plateau they are presently astatine is astir apt sustainable for the adjacent fewer months astatine least.”

This was NASA’s instrumentality program for the Starliner astronauts, which it began moving connected successful July 2024 and announced to the nationalist that August. Fast guardant to March of 2025 and astir thing has changed, but that the ngo has go a governmental punching bag.

Delays and governmental posturing

The communicative got adjacent much analyzable successful mid-December, erstwhile NASA announced that Crew-9’s instrumentality would beryllium delayed due to the fact that of a occupation with the Crew-10 SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. When a alleviation unit arrives astatine the International Space Station, NASA schedules their missions to overlap for a fewer days. These are called handovers, and they typically tally astir 5 days long.

Crew-10 was scheduled to alert connected the marque caller Crew Dragon, but problems with the batteries connected the spacecraft meant that it wouldn’t beryllium acceptable for a mid-February launch. As a result, Crew-10 wouldn’t motorboat until precocious March, and Crew-9 wouldn’t instrumentality until aft the in-person handover.

Delays with abstraction missions are highly common, truthful nary 1 expected that connected January 28 Boeing Starliner would travel roaring backmost into the headlines. On Truth Social, President Trump posted the following:

“I person conscionable asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to “go get” the 2 brave astronauts who person been virtually abandoned successful abstraction by the Biden Administration. They person been waiting for galore months connected @Space Station. Elon volition soon beryllium connected his way. Hopefully, each volition beryllium safe. Good luck Elon!!!”

The aforesaid day, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, published a station connected X claiming that the Biden medication had near the astronauts aboard the ISS. He aboriginal said successful a Fox News interrogation connected February 18 that the determination to permission Wilmore and Williams successful orbit until the extremity of the Crew-9 ngo had been politically motivated.

However, Steve Stich confirmed successful a March 7 property briefing that the determination to instrumentality Butch and Suni arsenic a portion of Crew-9 was made betwixt himself and ISS programme manager Dana Weigel, aft which it was tally up to the administrator. This was not a top-down decision.

What astir the instrumentality day for Crew-9, though? After this governmental kerfuffle with Trump and Musk, NASA announced February 11 it was swapping the Crew Dragon capsule for Crew-10 to a antecedently flown spacecraft. This meant that they could determination up Butch and Suni’s instrumentality day by 2 weeks, to mid-March.

Well, arsenic acold arsenic anyone tin tell, this was besides not the effect of governmental pressure.

At a Crew-10 media briefing connected Friday, March 7, Stich made it wide that the capsule swap was driven by different motivations, including needing to acceptable the Crew-10 motorboat successful betwixt the Intuitive Machines ngo which launched connected February 27 from the aforesaid pad (RIP Athena) and the Soyuz handover connected the ISS successful April. Officials were discussing swapping the capsules a period earlier the president’s Truth Social station (though it's imaginable the President was alert of the treatment erstwhile it was happening.)

“The president’s involvement definite added vigor to the conversation,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s subordinate head for abstraction operations, during that media teleconference. In the end, it’s hard to judge immoderate communicative successful which the timeline of Butch and Suni’s instrumentality was politically motivated, whether by the Biden medication oregon the Trump administration.

It’s incorrect to accidental that NASA isn’t taxable to governmental whims, due to the fact that it’s a authorities agency, with a fund projected by the president and determined by Congress. The bureau is bracing itself for drastic fund cuts to its subject operations this year. Generally speaking, that means it’s apt that if NASA tin safely and reasonably bash thing that the president asks for, it volition try.

But changing astir ngo timelines and sending up “rescue” missions for astronauts who aren’t successful danger? A NASA spokesperson refused to remark connected this directly.. But it’s improbable this was the case, particularly considering they stuck with a formation program that’s been successful spot since August 2024.

“They simply marque the champion decisions based connected the grounds that they person astatine the moment, taking into relationship that their apical precedence is the lives of the astronauts,” Laura Forczyk, laminitis of the abstraction consulting steadfast Astralytical, explained. “NASA makes the champion decisions that it tin successful the moment, careless of what the fashionable sentiment is.”

What's adjacent for NASA and Boeing?

Once the Crew-9 capsule splashes down, that volition genuinely bring an extremity to the Boeing Starliner mission, but its ramifications volition beryllium felt for a precise agelong time. There are superior questions astir the absorption of the bureau going forward, fixed the governmental clime and the caller administration’s priorities.

NASA acting head Janet Petro has already eliminated the Office of the Chief Scientist, successful compliance with the Trump administration’s Reduction successful Force order. More cuts are likely; rumors suggest that arsenic overmuch arsenic fractional of NASA’s subject fund volition beryllium slashed. This raises questions astir whether NASA volition beryllium capable to run iconic observatories similar the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope.

And NASA’s incoming administrator, Jared Isaacman, is simply a person of Elon Musk and works intimately with SpaceX. Isaacman conducted the archetypal backstage spacewalk with Sarah Gillis connected Polaris Dawn, a formation helium paid SpaceX for, past year. Isaacman inactive hasn’t been confirmed arsenic administrator, but if helium is, helium volition apt alteration NASA’s quality spaceflight program, starting with the instrumentality to the moon: The Artemis III satellite landing is presently scheduled for nary earlier than mid-2027).

What’s more, we inactive don’t cognize the destiny of the Starliner program. While NASA continues to enactment with Boeing to adjacent retired in-flight anomaly investigations, it’s uncertain erstwhile (or if) the adjacent formation of Starliner mightiness occur. There are besides questions surrounding whether Boeing adjacent wants to alert different mission. Back successful October, The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing — which besides built galore modules for the ISS — was considering selling disconnected its abstraction concern altogether. As of February 2025, Boeing’s full losses connected Starliner had reached $2 billion.

Whatever happens with Boeing Starliner, the massively disproportionate governmental backlash to a regular NASA determination that prioritized the wellness and information of their astronauts is simply a troubling indicator of what’s to travel for the agency.