SpaceX’s Crew-8 capsule has returned home. That’s why the Boeing Starliner astronauts weren’t on it

CNN
—

The two test pilots for the inaugural crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — NASA’s Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore — left Earth for the International Space Station under the impression that their journey would only take about one week.

Months later, after the Starliner’s technical problems on the first leg of its journey proved too risky, NASA decided to bring Williams and Willmore home aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.

But this does not mean that astronauts will be able to make the first return trip to Earth.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon, on a mission dubbed Crew-8, departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, but Williams and Willmore were left behind again for the simple reason that they were not assigned to that specific spacecraft.

It is worth noting that the four astronauts assigned to the Crew-8 mission – Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Janet Epps from NASA, as well as Alexander Grebenkin from the Russian space agency Roscosmos – have been aboard the International Space Station since March 5, that is, nearly three days. Months longer than expected. Williams and Wilmore.

That’s because Crew-8 was part of a regular crew rotation at the orbiting laboratory, and routine missions typically last about six months.

The team descended from the International Space Station on Wednesday afternoon and headed toward landing off the coast of Florida. It happened on Friday at approximately 3:29 a.m. ET.

Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore are assigned to return home aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.

NASA and SpaceX had to reconfigure the Crew-9 capsule and astronaut missions before the mission’s Sept. 28 launch to ensure there was enough room for Williams and Willmore to return home aboard the vehicle when it completes its ISS mission no later than February 2025.

This is just one reason the duo won’t be able to hop on the next flight home. Spaceflight tends to be more complex, and requires more advance planning.

How Williams and Willmore ended up here

Williams and Willmore did not go to the International Space Station as part of the normal crew rotation.

Instead, the duo ventured into orbit as part of a historic effort: the first crewed flight of a Starliner. They left on June 4, most of them without their toiletries and other personal comforts, anticipating a quick return to Earth.

After that, Williams and Wilmore were left in limbo due to several critical problems, including gas leaks and propulsion problems, that plagued the Starliner capsule during the first phase of its flight. NASA then chose to leave the capsule — with Williams and Willmore — on the International Space Station while engineers worked to figure out what had gone wrong.

After weeks of uncertainty, NASA ruled in late August that it would be too risky to return Williams and Wilmore home on the Starliner.

The space agency scrambled to find an alternative route back home. That’s how NASA came to the decision to put Williams and Willmore on Crew-9, a mission that had not yet left Earth at the time.

Two astronauts who were scheduled to fly on Crew-9 before the Boeing Starliner disaster — NASA’s Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson — had to be ejected to make room for Williams and Willmore on the return flight.

The Crew-9 mission then launched with just two astronauts, two empty seats, and some ballast — or dead weight — to balance out the physics of flight without a full crew of four. The Crew-9 spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station on September 29.

For your information, Williams and Wilmore have been on the space station for more than 18 weeks.

The Boeing Starliner finally returned home from space empty on September 6.

So what exactly will Williams and Wilmore do for another four or five months in space?

When the duo arrived at the International Space Station, they were guests. But now they are in action, having joined Expedition 72, or International crew Of astronauts currently serving as official staff on the space station.

Williams even He assumed the position of commander for the entire space station on September 22.

NASA said she integrated seamlessly with the group, performing daily tasks aboard the orbiting laboratory.

As part of Crew-9 and the official mission, Williams and Willmore will undertake typical crew work, including conducting spacewalks outside the space station, maintaining the orbital laboratory and carrying out a tight schedule of science experiments.

NASA previously confirmed that Starliner astronauts are ready to make such a transition.

“Two years ago, we made the decision — knowing that this was a test flight — to make sure that we had the resources, supplies and proper training for the crew, just in case they needed to be on the ISS, for whatever reason,” said Dana Weigel, ISS program manager. NASA, during a press conference on August 7: “We will continue to operate for a longer period of time.”

“Butch and Sonny are fully trained,” Weigel added. “They’re capable and up to date with extravehicular activity (spacewalks), with robotics, with all the things we need them to do.”

During recent updates on ISS activities from NASA, the space agency said that Williams, Willmore and their colleagues, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian Alexander Gorbunov, will help move the Crew-9 capsule from its current docking port to the port that was opened when Crew-9 was in operation. Ready. 8 It began its journey home from space. They recently spent some time training for this mission, according to NASA updates.

Williams and Wilmore also faced some downtime recently as they waited days to support Crew-8’s departure, which was repeatedly postponed due to inclement weather surrounding Florida.

But the couple also kept busy with experiments and other daily duties. October 18 to update of NASA, for example, states that during a half-day of work, Williams performed a cognitive test and “checked the connections on the radio-frequency identification devices,” while “Wilmore activated a Fluorescence microscopy To observe how particles of different sizes work Jelly and rough“.

Williams and Wilmore have already logged a total of 500 days in space before launching on a Starliner test flight this year. Williams even said she cried after she left the space station after her last mission in 2012, unsure whether or not she would return.

“This flight is a dream for her,” a NASA commentator said during a Starliner live broadcast on June 5. He releases.

It is not uncommon for astronauts to unexpectedly extend their stay aboard the space station—by days, weeks, or even months.

For example, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio was scheduled to spend about six months aboard the International Space Station on his inaugural flight to low Earth orbit that launched in September 2022. Instead, he logged 371 days in space after a coolant leak was discovered. . Coming from its original flight – a Russian Soyuz capsule – while docked at the orbital outpost.

Rubio’s year-long stay ended in setting an American record for the most continuous days spent in orbit.

Astronauts also routinely extend their stay on the station for days or weeks at a time due to a variety of factors, including bad weather on Earth or other schedule adjustments.

When asked at a press conference in September if he was having difficulty adjusting to the prospect of waiting months longer before returning home, Wilmore said: “I wouldn’t worry about it. I mean, there’s no point in it at all. So my shift was – It may not have been instant – but it was very close.

Williams said at the same news conference that she misses her family and pets, and that she is disappointed to miss some family events this fall and winter. But she added: “This is my happy place.” I love being here in space. It’s just fun. You know, every day that you do something, like quote or unquote, you can do it upside down. You can do it sideways, so it adds a little different perspective.