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Photo by NASA. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams pose on June 13, 2024 for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
8-26-2024 12:46am
Safety Concerns Prompt NASA to Plan for Starliner's Uncrewed Return to Earth
Darlene Cancell
Editor
NASA on August 24th has announced that Astronaut Sunita (Suni) L. Williams, a 1983 graduate of Needham High School, who in June piloted the first crewed flight of NASA’s Boeing’s Starliner in a Boeing Crew Flight Test, will have an extended stay at the International Space Station along with Commander Butch Wilmore, due to safety concerns prompting NASA to plan for a return of Starliner to Earth, without its crew.
The NASA mission for Williams and Wilmore originally included a one week stay aboard the International Space Station. That stay will now be about eight months, with a planned return to Earth for Williams and Wilmore in February 2025.
“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson in a press release.
On June 6th, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and issues with spacecraft reaction control thrusters as Starliner approached the space station. Enough uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence have remained that NASA has decided to have Starliner return to Earth under autonomous operation, without human cargo, in early September. Starliner has previously completed two uncrewed space flights.
Before coming to its decision, NASA reviewed data collected, conducted flight and ground testing, hosted independent reviews with agency propulsion experts, and developed return contingency plans.
“Decisions like this are never easy, but I want to commend our NASA and Boeing teams for their thorough analysis, transparent discussions, and focus on safety during the Crew Flight Test,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Missions Directorate. “We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station."
NASA plans to bring Williams and Wilmore home on a Dragon spacecraft in February 2025 with two other crew members who are assigned to NASA’s Space X Crew-9 mission. The Crew-9 mission will launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida no earlier than Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
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In the meantime, both Williams and Wilmore will continue their work of supporting International Space Station research, maintenance, and testing and data analysis, along with other activities. The two lifted off aboard United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. on June 5. They flew Starliner and docked at the International Space Station at 1:34 p.m. on June 6.
This is Williams’s third mission to the International Space Station. Born in Euclid, Ohio to Dr. Deepak and Bonnie Pandya, Williams considers Needham to be her hometown.
After graduating from Needham High School in 1983, she attended the U.S. Naval Academy where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Physical Science in 1987. She also attended Florida Institute of Technology where she earned a Master of Science in Engineering Management in 1995.
In December 1995, Williams went back to Naval Test Pilot School as an instructor and safety officer. From there, she was assigned to the USS Saipan as the Aircraft Handler and Assistant Air Boss. It was while deployed on USS Saipan in 1998, after having logged over 3000 flight hours in over 30 aircraft, that Williams was selected for the astronaut program.
Updated 8/26/2024 at 4:31 p.m.
