Earlier today, SpaceX launched the International Space Station (ISS) with fresh NASA astronauts and will bring NASA’s Boeing testers home next week.
NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on June 5, 2024 on Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft, on Aula Atlas V Rocket. This is the spacecraft's first crew flight test, designed to verify and prove its use in NASA's operational missions.
NASA's Boeing Starliner tester has been on the International Space Station for 9 months
However, on the way to the Boeing spacecraft at ISS, helium leaks and thruster problems. The task that lasts for a week becomes weeks, and months. Boeing and NASA have to work to try to understand the root cause and predict when problems may occur again.
final, NASA decides to insure crew membersand asked SpaceX to bring them back to the upcoming NASA crew mission. It's good for Starliner to return to Earth, but Boeing did the work before NASA was confident about another crew member's Starliner. There has been no update since the mission ended in September 2024.
Four new astronauts head to the International Space Station
Currently, NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Jaxa (Japan Aeronautical and Space Exploration) astronauts Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They plan to automatically expand to ISS at 11:30 pm on Saturday, March 15.
You can watch the live broadcast starting March 15 at 9:45 pm NASA+ Reach, dock and hatch openings.
“Congratulations to our NASA and SpaceX teams on the tenth staff rotation mission under our commercial crew partnership. This milestone demonstrates NASA’s commitment to promoting U.S. leadership in space and driving growth in our nation’s space economy.”
“Through these missions, we lay the foundation for future exploration, from low-Earth orbit to the moon and Mars. Our international staff will contribute to innovative scientific research and technological developments that will bring benefits to all humanity.”
Williams and Willmore will return to Earth on March 19
Williams and Wilmore will finally return home on March 19.
