On August 24, NASA will announce how Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts that flew to the ISS aboard Boeing’s Starliner, will be coming home. Earlier this month, the agency said it was already in talks with SpaceX about the possibility of giving the astronauts two seats aboard an upcoming Crew Dragon mission, while continuing to ask Boeing for data to prove that the Starliner is safe to ride back to Earth. In its announcement, NASA said that on August 24, its leadership will make a final examination of the data Boeing gathered through various ground tests and simulations by engineers with help from Williams and Wilmore. An hour later, at around 1PM Eastern time, it will hold a news conference to broadcast its official decision, which can be watched on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. The Starliner’s first crewed mission blasted off to space in June but encountered issues with its maneuvering thrusters and helium leak, resulting in delays. If NASA decides to make Wilmore and Williams hitch a ride on the Crew Dragon, then the Starliner will be coming back to Earth without a crew onboard. Boeing reported losses due to the spacecraft’s delayed return, and the astronauts will be coming home as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which had to be delayed due to ongoing Starliner problems.
