A space roundtrip gone wrong; two Nasa astronauts are currently struck aboard the International Space Station till 2025.
The two astronauts: Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, were orignally sent into space for an 8-day roundtrip aboard the Boeing Starliner. They have been stuck on the ISS since June 6,2024. However, due to technical difficulties, the crew has now spent an additional 90 days, with that number predicted to increase to 240 days in space till a SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule can pick them up.
When asked how he would feel if he was one of the astronauts who rode the Starliner, Wharton High School Astronomy teacher, Justin Troscher replied, “I would feel nervous that I travelled into space into crafts that I, at one point, had confidence in. In other words, my confidence might be shaken.” Similarly, when Jonathan Kross, an astrophotographer, was also asked this question, he responded by saying,” I, even despite my love of space, would be absolutely terrified if I was up,” and that it would be ‘constant stress and anxiety.’ Kross also went on to provide an example of how quickly a small issue could become a crisis up there, such as a toilet breaking.
Since space travel is becoming more common and NASA is leaning into the commercial sector for spacecrafts, the safety of our astronauts would be considered paramount. With the recent incident of Suni and Butch stuck aboard the ISS, it leaves people questioning if the safety of our astronauts is taken seriously or if NASA is properly testing the spacecrafts from the private sector. The current situation was caused by a malfunction on the Starliner. Engineers had detected issues with the capsule’s thrusters and leaks within its propulsion system. Because of this, the crew’s return trip on the Starliner is cancelled and the SpaceX rescue mission predicted to fall into February 2025.
The Starliner is a 15-foot-wide Boeing made capsule made with the hope of NASA that they will provide the organization with a new way for crew to board the ISS. In May of 2024, a problem with a rocket valve was discovered along with a helium leak that engineers had fixed. When Starliner did launch on the Atlas V rocket, Nasa detected three helium leaks: one before flight and two after it. Even though the vessel successfully docked with the ISS, the crew had to troubleshoot the failed control thrusters.
This starkly contrasts with another company that NASA has a contract with: SpaceX. SpaceX has reportedly had over 300 successful flights with Falcon 9. Now, there have been failures with SpaceX too. Most notably when the Falcon 9 exploded on the launch pad in 2016 and in July when there was a liquid oxygen leak and satellites being deployed in the wrong orbit.
Viewers of the situation have raised the question of why NASA chose Boeing over SpaceX for this mission despite SpaceX having reported over 300 successful missions. When asked this question, high school astronomy teacher, Troscher responded saying, “I hate to sound cynical, but NASA likely chose Boeing for political reasons, even though SpaceX would have been the safer option.” He also goes on to say that NASA chose Boeing over SpaceX because they didn’t want to get tangled up with the controversy sounding SpaceX’s owner, Elon Musk. When Kross was asked this question, he had a different response compared to Troscher. Kross’s response was, “SpaceX has had two separate instances of rocket launch and landings issues. The first one being a second stage fail, which led to the SpaceX rocket being ground for, let’s say, a couple of weeks maybe.” He also went on to say it was a contract issue. He said,” Boeing was given $3.2 billion; SpaceX was given $2.9 billon.” And that,” SpaceX had already completed their contact while Boeing had yet to deliver on it.” This provides some insight on why Boeing was chosen over SpaceX for this mission.
The astronauts are currently safe aboard the ISS and are doing well. Suni, 61, and Butch,58, are both veteran astronauts with plenty of experience with space. They both served as naval officers and test pilots and know a thing or two about being in space. Suni herself was the record holder for most spacewalks by a woman (seven in total), has done the most time in spacewalk (50 hours, 40 minutes, and completed the first marathon in 2007) by any person in space. Butch has also piloted the Space Shuttle Atlantis on its mission to the ISS in 2009 and he created the first tool off-world (a ratchet wrench) in 2014 with a 3D printer. The pair are currently working with the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025, where they will fly home with two other crew members aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule.