NASA Administrator Bill Nelson makes decision on the fate of Boeing Starliner astronauts. Announced yesterday on August 24, 2024, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth without its crew. This decision was made during a press briefing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, following weeks of investigation into a series of technical issues that surfaced during the spacecraft’s launch and docking with the International Space Station.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since June as part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, were originally intended to return on the Starliner after an eight-day test flight of the spacecraft. However, due to ongoing concerns about the spacecraft’s reliability, NASA has opted to bring them back aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with Crew 9 astronauts, currently scheduled for a February 2025 return.