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Before the June 5 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, they said their families had understood decades ago the uncertainty and stress of their careers. In their only orbital news conference last month, they expressed confidence in the ongoing thruster tests. They added that they had no complaints and were enjoying being aboard the space station.
Wilmore’s wife, Deanna, was similarly calm in an interview with WVLT-TV earlier this month in his hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. She was ready to postpone until February: “You just have to let it happen.”
There are few options to choose from.
The SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents who have been there since March. They are due to return in late September, and their stay was extended by a month due to Starliner’s woes. NASA said it would not be safe to cram two more people into the capsule except in an emergency.
The docked Russian Soyuz capsule was more compact and could accommodate only three astronauts, two of whom were Russians who had just completed a year-long space mission.
So Wilmore and Williams will wait for SpaceX’s next glide flight, which will launch in late September with two astronauts instead of the usual four and stay in space for six months. NASA removed two astronauts to make room for Wilmore and Williams on the return flight in late February.
NASA said it had not seriously considered asking SpaceX for a quick independent rescue. Last year, Russia’s space agency had to urgently provide a replacement Soyuz capsule for three astronauts whose original spacecraft was damaged by space junk. The replacement extended their mission by more than a year, a U.S. space endurance record that is still held by Frank Rubio.
Starliner’s woes began long before its latest flight.
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