Two US astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner will have to return home with rival SpaceX, NASA said Saturday.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told reporters.
The return of Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams has been delayed by thruster malfunctions of the Boeing spacecraft.
The decision marked a fresh public relations headache for Boeing, meaning the two astronauts will have to spend a total of eight months in orbit, not the eight days as originally planned.
After years of Starliner development delays, the spacecraft had finally lifted off in early June carrying veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams to the ISS.
But while studying problems with the craft’s propulsion system, NASA had to put their return on indefinite hold.
Engineers at Boeing and NASA were concerned …