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NASA It has been announced that it will use SpaceXof Dragon Capsule Bringing home two astronauts stranded in space for months is a new blow to aerospace manufacturers Boeing.
The agency said it has no confidence in Boeing’s troubled Starliner space capsule. Unmanned return to Earthtwo astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, will return to Earth in February 2025.
Williams and Wilmore will continue International Space Station Until then, I had been there since early June.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the decision was the result of a “commitment to safety.” “Our core value is safety, it’s our North Star,” he told reporters on Saturday.
“NASA has decided that ‘Butch’ and ‘Sunny’ will return with a crew of nine next February, while ‘Starliner’ will return unmanned,” Nelson said.
“I want you to know that Boeing worked very hard with NASA to get the data needed to make this decision. We hope to further understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that Boeing Starliner can be an important part of our mission to ensure crew access to the International Space Station.
Nelson added that he has spoken with new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who said the company will continue to address these issues once Starliner returns.
“Space flight is risky, even under the safest circumstances, even under the most routine circumstances,” Nelson added. “Test flights are inherently neither safe nor routine, so the decision to keep Butch and Sonny on the ISS and return the Boeing Starliner unmanned was made with a commitment to safety.
“Our core value is safety, and that is our North Star. I thank the teams at NASA and Boeing for all of the incredibly detailed work they did to reach this decision.”
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been transporting crew members to the International Space Station since 2020.
Instead of sending a full crew of four, SpaceX will send just two when it launches Dragon to the space station in late September. Those two crew members, including Williams and Wilmore, will return to Earth in February 2025.
Former astronaut Ken Bowersox told reporters that the decision to choose SpaceX as the company for the astronauts’ return was “unanimous” among NASA officials.
Boeing has previously insisted it still stands by the Starliner, the aircraft Experiencing mechanical problems Heading to International Space Station It departed on June 6 for an eight-day mission.
The June flight was the first crewed mission to the International Space Station for Starliner, a flagship development for the aerospace giant designed to compete with SpaceX for NASA contracts.
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