The astronauts are trained to deal with any unforeseen events, a preparation that has allowed Sunita Williams (59 years old) and Butch Wilmore (62) to face with impeccable professionalism and good spirits the extraordinary extension of their space mission after the failures detected in the Starliner spacecraft that brought them to the International Space Station (ISS) last June. An odyssey that is coming to an end, as this weekend the new crew, Crew-10, has finally arrived, allowing their return starting next Wednesday.
Popularly known as the astronauts 'stranded or trapped' at the ISS, these two veteran members of NASA have seen how the test mission of this Boeing spacecraft they were assigned, which was supposed to last just over a week, has been extended for more than nine months. However, this troubled mission has turned into a sort of space soap opera full of setbacks and even political controversies.
The crisis began when the Starliner spacecraft, a sort of space taxi developed by Boeing on behalf of NASA to transport astronauts to the ISS, experienced technical failures during its first test flight, which finally started on June 5 after years of delays due to numerous technical problems and setbacks.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore safely arrived at the ISS, where they joined the crew already there. However, during that outbound trip, problems with the propulsion system were recorded, delaying the docking of the Starliner spacecraft with the orbital platform. In addition, several helium leaks were detected in the spacecraft, preventing them from returning to Earth on June 14 as initially planned.
Nevertheless, NASA was confident that Boeing would fix the leaks. However, after several months of work and discussions about the spacecraft's condition, the U.S. space agency did not want to take any risks with its astronauts, and on August 24, it announced that the vehicle would return empty to Earth. Its crew would stay at the ISS for a while, waiting for another spacecraft to pick them up and bring them back to Earth. Boeing's officials did not hide their displeasure and disagreement with that decision, which compromised their image. Although the spacecraft returned empty to Earth on September 7 without incidents, the reputational damage was done.
It should be noted that the private companies Boeing and SpaceX won contracts from NASA in 2014 to manufacture spacecraft for astronauts to travel to the ISS, replacing the task previously carried out by the retired shuttle. In this way, the space agency could focus on developing vehicles to travel to the Moon and eventually to Mars. For this, Boeing received public funding of $4.2 billion, while SpaceX received $2.6 billion. While SpaceX managed to develop and launch its spacecraft, the Crew Dragon, in 2020 with less money, Boeing has not yet been able to have the Starliner ready. And the crisis of the two stranded astronauts has only worsened their image.
Furthermore, the NASA decided in August that the astronauts would return to Earth in a Crew Dragon spacecraft powered by a Falcon 9 rocket, both from SpaceX, its main competitor. However, given the strict and limited schedule of missions to the ISS, it was said then that they would have to wait until February to return home since there was no available spacecraft that could be launched immediately.
This mission extension has been used by NASA to assign new tasks to the two astronauts, with the aim of making the most of their situation. According to the space agency, they have dedicated over 900 hours to research during which they have carried out more than 150 experiments.
In addition, last February, Sunita Williams became the woman with the most accumulated time in spacewalks (60 hours and 21 minutes). Updates on their status by NASA have been frequent and have included press conferences and interviews in which they have repeatedly stated that they are not worried or feel abandoned or stranded, downplaying this crisis and highlighting how happy they are to remain in space. Their main concern, they admitted, was the anxiety of their families and not being able to tell them when they would return.
The plan was for them to return on the Crew-9 mission spacecraft, which would take off with two empty seats (astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were left out so that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could occupy them during the return trip). Instead of launching in August, the Crew-9 mission began on September 28 with only two occupants, Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, on the Crew spacecraft nicknamed Freedom, which carried two additional suits for the stranded astronauts, as Boeing's suits are not compatible with SpaceX's spacecraft.
The return flight scheduled for late March has been moved up a couple of weeks by changing the capsule to be used. When everything was finally ready this week for the launch from the Kennedy Space Center of the mission to the ISS that would allow their return, a failure in the hydraulic system of a fastening component forced the postponement of the Crew-10 mission launch, set for Wednesday, March 12. Although it was postponed the next day, strong winds and rain forecast led to the launch attempt on Friday, March 14 at 7:03 p.m. in Florida (midnight on Saturday in Spain), which this time took off on time.
On Saturday, Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, the Japanese Takuya Onishi, and the Russian Kirill Peskov arrived at the ISS, who are the members of the Crew-10 mission and will relieve the current crew. As usual, the astronauts and cosmonauts exchanged welcoming hugs, although undoubtedly this relief mission has garnered more attention as it will allow the return of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
With this new schedule, the stranded astronauts have not been able to return to Earth on Sunday, March 16, as initially planned at the beginning of the week, but if no new setbacks arise, they will return alongside Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov on Tuesday, March 18, as announced by NASA on Sunday night. Although they had indicated that it would not be before Wednesday, March 19, the favorable weather forecast on the coast of Florida, where the spacecraft will land, will allow the attempt to take place that day. Thus, one of the most publicized space crises will come to an end.