NASA: Boeing Starliner to Return to Earth Without Crew

The Starliner has been docked to the Space Station for two months while scientists ran tests.

By Adam Barnhardt

After months of deliberation, NASA has decided to return the Starliner planetside without its crew. Saturday, the space agency announced plans to bring the Boeing-made craft back to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard. Wilmore and Williams piloted the Starliner through a trip on the craft in June, with it seemingly suffering damage upon its docking at the International Space Station.

"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," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a Saturday press conference. "I'm grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work."

Officials with NASA and Boeing discovered helium leaks and, in turn, problems with the craft's thrusters, during Spaceliner's maiden voyage. The flight with Wilmore and Williams was to be the craft's first crewed flight after years of uncrewed tests.

"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," added Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission 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."

Wilmore and Williams have been helping other astronauts with experiments aboard the International Space Station since June and will remain aboard the orbiting vessel until at least February of next year.

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"Starliner is a very capable spacecraft and, ultimately, this comes down to needing a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return," said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "The NASA and Boeing teams have completed a tremendous amount of testing and analysis, and this flight test is providing critical information on Starliner's performance in space. Our efforts will help prepare for the uncrewed return and will greatly benefit future corrective actions for the spacecraft."

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