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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home, but not until next year. The capsule rocketed into orbit to fetch the test pilots whose Boeing spacecraft returned to Earth empty earlier this month because of safety concerns. The switch in rides left it to NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov to retrieve Needham native Suni Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore. Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with...

Homeward Bound On Saturday morning, NASA's plagued Starliner spacecraft finally made it back to the ground. The capsule landed in the New Mexico desert after spending just over three months in space. But thanks to technical issues worrying NASA officials, it left behind the agency's two stranded astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, bookending a disastrous first crewed flight attempt. The pair will have to wait for their ride back, on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, until February. Signals on the capsule's return were mixed. On the one hand, according to NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich, it pulled...

Starliner has finally come home, more than three months after it launched on a planned 10-day mission.. Starliner's long space odyssey is over. The Boeing capsule, named Calypso, returned to Earth early this morning (Sept. 7), touching down in the New Mexico desert at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT; 11:01 p.m. local time on Sept. 6). "Great landing of Calyspo!" NASA astronaut Suni Williams said on the agency's webcast. "I don't think that could have gone better." The landing was long-delayed, coming more than three months into an orbital mission originally expected to last about 10 days. And, while Starliner...

Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The beleaguered Boeing Starliner spacecraft that took two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station will attempt to make its uncrewed return to Earth on Friday evening, the company has announced. NASA on Thursday issued a timeline and a set of criteria for the Starliner's departure from the ISS and return to Earth. The space capsule has faced a host of issues since well before its launch, and continued to experience problems even after arriving at the ISS, which ultimately culminated in Boeing making a deal with competitor SpaceX to bring the astronauts back home in...

The good news is that Boeing was able to update the automated flight software on its troubled Starliner space capsule, allowing NASA to return it unmanned to Earth no sooner than Friday. The bad news — or at least the serious question — is whether Starliner will ever fly again. NASA decided last week not to fly astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home on board the same ship they flew to ISS on due to safety concerns about the service module's malfunctioning thrusters. While an astronaut is sometimes scheduled in advance to return to Earth on board a different...

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have raised alarms about a series of "strange noises" coming from the malfunctioning Starliner capsule as of August 1, 2024. With a long way still to go before making it back to Earth, the veteran astronauts, currently residing on the International Space Station (ISS), are reportedly encountering a ‘pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping,’ according to the recording, first shared by a meteorologist named Rob Dale.

Starliner crew reports hearing strange "sonar like noises" emanating from their craft. This is the real audio of it

Boeing's troubled Starliner spacecraft is set to return to Earth just over a week from now with managers setting a date of no earlier than September 6 for undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) and September 7 to land at White Sands in New Mexico. For the Starliner's crew, however, the stay in space will be far from over as the duo will join the Crew-9 mission and return to Earth around February 2025, once the Crew-9 capsule arrives at the ISS. After Starliner departs and until Crew-9 arrives, the only emergency escape system available to the Starliner crew,...

After being stranded on the International Space Station since June, two astronaut castaways may still be months away from returning to Earth—in part because of incompatible space suits. The two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have had to extend what was supposed to be an eight-day trip on the ISS, because of a helium leak and thruster malfunctions on their Boeing-made Starliner spacecraft. NASA and Boeing are testing to see if it’s safe for the astronauts to return on the Boeing Starliner, but are also considering alternatives given the possible risks. NASA has yet to make a decision, but...

NASA on Friday cut two astronauts from the next crew to make room on the return trip for the two stuck at the International Space Station. NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch in September aboard a SpaceX rocket for the orbiting laboratory. The duo will return with Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore in February. NASA decided it’s too risky for Williams and Wilmore to fly home in their Boeing Starliner capsule, marred by thruster troubles and helium leaks. Bumped from the SpaceX flight: NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson. NASA said they could fly on future...

NASA and Boeing teams have completed a comprehensive Delta-Flight Test Readiness Review, giving the green light for the uncrewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to undock from the International Space Station. The undocking is scheduled for no earlier than 6:04 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 6, depending on weather and operational readiness. Once Starliner undocks, it will take approximately six hours to reach its designated landing site at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The spacecraft is expected to land around 12:03 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, using parachutes and inflated airbags to soften the impact. Recovery teams at White Sands...

Two astronauts who flew to the International Space Station on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth next year on a SpaceX vehicle in yet another humiliating blow to Boeing's reputation.NASA's Plan B: Why SpaceX Is Completing Boeing's Starliner Mission | 6:40The Wall Street Journal | 5.53M subscribers | 389,477 views | August 24, 2024

Boeing Starliner crewmembers Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded aboard the International Space Station since June, will remain there until February, NASA administrators announced Saturday. In weighing whether to allow them to try to return to Earth aboard their malfunctioning Starliner craft or wait until the completion of the upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon mission in February, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the agency opted for the latter due to safety reasons. "Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February," he announced during a televised news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston, adding that the glitchy...

The Boeing Starliner crew, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, are to return to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle in February, NASA officials announced Saturday. The Starliner spacecraft itself will be unmanned when it returns in early September. NASA announced the decision at Johnson Space Center following a test flight readiness review meeting. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the decision was due to a "commitment to safety."

When is a mishap not really a mishap?NASA has continued to twist itself into a pretzel over whether Boeing's CST-100 Starliner – now two months past its original return date – can be used to bring back its crew to Earth and whether a failure to do so would be classed as a mishap. The briefing, which did not feature any Boeing personnel, hinted at the turmoil behind the scenes at the US space agency as staffers grapple with the problem of Starliner's problematic thrusters amid the knowledge that a proven and operational spacecraft, in the form of the Crew...

NASA needs to decide by the end of August whether to return two astronauts to Earth aboard Boeing's Starliner, which flew them to the International Space Station (ISS), or bring them home on a SpaceX craft, officials said Wednesday. NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams blasted off for the ISS on Starliner on June 5 for what was meant to be an eight-day stay. But their return has been delayed by thruster malfunctions that came to light during the first crewed mission to the ISS by the Boeing spacecraft. NASA officials, at a press conference on Wednesday,...

NASA is grappling with a critical decision regarding the return of astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station (ISS) amid concerns over the Boeing Starliner’s autonomous undocking capabilities and the spacecraft’s potential to damage one of only two docking ports on the space station. ... plagued by multiple technical issues, significantly extending the originally planned eight-day mission. As NASA deliberates on the best course of action for bringing the astronauts home, a surprising revelation has emerged regarding the Starliner’s flight software. ... the current flight software onboard the Starliner lacks the ability to perform an automated...

Anyone gonna ask Space Council Chair Kamala Harris about the 2 American astronauts still stranded in space?

The two astronauts who have already been stuck in space for more than 60 days may have to wait until early 2025 before they can return to Earth — following a trip to the International Space Station that was supposed to last just eight days. NASA also acknowledged that the astronauts, who arrived on the maiden voyage of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, may have to be rescued by the rival SpaceX CrewDragon, though that vessel won’t be ready until February. On Wednesday, NASA announced another delay in bringing home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during a news conference, with the...

SpaceX has delayed this month's Crew-9 astronaut launch to Sept. 24, to accommodate a traffic jam at the International Space Station as Boeing's Starliner remains stalled at the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX was scheduled to launch its ninth operational flight for NASA with four astronauts to the ISS on Aug. 18, before the space agency announced the delay Monday. "This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory," NASA said. Boeing's new Starliner capsule launched June 5, with NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore...