“The two astronauts who have already been stuck in space for more than 60 days may have to wait until early 2025”
Rescue date scheduled for Sept 24 ...
It was originally scheduled for Aug 18, we'll see if this one works out.
Article says they would return on the Dragon that is scheduled to take Crew 9 to the ISS, and that won’t occur until February 2025. Another potential problem is that this particular Starliner capsule doesn’t have the software installed to enable it to undock or deorbit autonomously. They’re discussing a possible software upgrade, done remotely, but that’s apparently a little dicey as well. If they decide to bring the astronauts home on Dragon, then the Starliner can’t safely undock if they can’t upgrade the software, which would leave it occupying a needed docking port. They can’t just jettison it, because without autonomous navigation capability, it could hit the ISS. What a spectacular mess Boeing has created (yet again).