NASA is considering a backup plan to bring home the two astronauts who have been at the International Space Station (ISS) for two months, with no clear return date in sight.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams—who piloted the first crewed test flight of Starliner, a Boeing spacecraft—arrived at the ISS on June 6. During a NASA meeting on Wednesday, it became apparent that Starliner is facing issues that might prevent the astronauts from returning to Earth until 2025.
“We know that at some point we need to bring Butch and Suni home,” said Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations.
NASA revealed they are looking into a backup option for Wilmore and Williams to travel back to Earth on a different spacecraft. Steve Stich, the manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said that the backup plan would involve a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule traveling to the ISS with two astronauts instead of its planned four. Wilmore and Williams would remain at the space station before returning to Earth on the Crew Dragon in February 2025. The capsule was built by SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor.
“We could take either path,” Bowersox said.
Wilmore and Williams were expected to be in space for only eight days, but their stay has been extended due to problems with Starliner’s thrusters. NASA and Boeing officials have stated, though, that the crew is not “stranded” or “stuck” in space, and that they had plans for their return at the “right time.”
The SpaceX launch was previously scheduled for Aug. 18, but NASA announced on Tuesday that the launch has been delayed to no earlier than Sept. 24 so that officials can finalize a plan for Starliner’s return.
Boeing said in a statement on Friday that it “remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew,” adding that it was supporting NASA’s requests for additional testing, data, analysis and reviews of the spacecraft.
If the backup plan is approved, Starliner would return to Earth on board.
NASA officials emphasized that they haven’t made a final decision.
“Our primary option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” Stich said. “However, we have done the necessary planning to ensure we have other options available.”