National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said it's "too risky" to bring the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and , back to earth currently, because of which Boeing's Starliner capsule will return without the two astronauts. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the expedition and will return only in February 25. This means what would have been a week-long test flight will now extend to around 8 months.
"Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025. They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency's Crew-9 mission. Starliner is expected to depart from the space station and make a safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing in early September," NASA said in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENT The uncrewed return of capsule will allow NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on the Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew. Wilmore and Williams, who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test, have been supporting station research, maintenance, and Starliner system testing and data analysis, among other activities. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the spaceflight is "risky" and the decision to keep the two astronauts in space and bring the Starliner uncrewed is because of "commitment to safety.
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