The Starliner is without a crew on board

The NASA Decision Decision on the Starliner Missions to ISS, Orbiting Above the e e Velocities: A Story from Ars Technica

NASA has given Boeing the “Authority To Proceed” for only three of its six potential operational Starliner missions. This milestone, known as ATP, is a decision point in contracting lingo where the customer—in this case, NASA—places a firm order for a deliverable. NASA has previously said it awards these task orders about two to three years prior to a mission’s launch.

In any event, the schedule for launching an operational Starliner crew flight in less than a year seems improbable. Aside from the decision on another test flight, the agency also must decide whether it will order any more operational Starliner missions from Boeing. These “post-certification missions” will transport crews of four astronauts between Earth and the ISS, orbiting roughly 260 miles (420 kilometers) above the planet.

This story came from Ars Technica, a source for technology news, tech policy analysis, reviews and more. Ars is owned by WIRED’s parent company, Condé Nast.

How Starliner Undocked: First Astronauts Left Safely on Board the International Space Station, Arriving Onboard a Space Shuttle

The space agency has worked with Boeing and SpaceX to develop two vehicles that can ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. NASA cleared the way for Musk’s company to begin flying regular six-month space station crew rotation missions after it launched its first Dragon spaceship with astronauts in May 2020.

This outcome is a blow for NASA and Boeing, which will need to resolve two major problems before Starliner can fly with people again. NASA does not know if it will need to launch another Starliner test flight before certifying the first of up to six operational crew missions for Boeing.

The Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station at 6:04 pm EDT (22:04 UTC) Friday. If all goes according to plan, Starliner will ignite its braking rockets at 11:17 pm EDT (03:17 UTC) for a minute-long burn to target a parachute-assisted, airbag-cushioned landing at White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, at 12:03 am EDT (04:03 UTC) Saturday.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard Starliner on June 5, closed the spacecraft’s hatch Thursday in preparation for departure Friday. It wasn’t what they anticipated after they left Earth on Starliner three months ago. Instead of closing the hatch in Starliner’s cockpit they latched the door to the space station’s docking port.

That’s why, when the gumdrop-shaped space capsule parachuted down to Earth, it carried only cargo — and its first crew remained safely on board the International Space Station.

Space Station Training for the Starliner Launch of Spaceflight: NASA’s Commercial Crew Program for a Mission to the Moon and Beyond

It was a difficult decision to leave them there. It was really hard to determine whether to be uncrewed or not,” Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters earlier this week.

NASA officials decided to tread lightly with regard to how the thrusters would perform due to uncertainty over how they would work. The loss of space shuttles Columbia and Challenger continues to haunt the space agency.

Starliner launched on June 5 with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, and Boeing and NASA initially said their test flight would last about eight days.

Instead, the mission stretched out for weeks as Boeing and NASA workers tried to understand why some thrusters had failed as Starliner approached the station.

“Since we knew this was a test flight, with intention we put them through long-duration space station training,” says Dana Weigel, NASA’s program manager for the station, who adds that the astronauts have been helping out with chores and science experiments. They were prepared to move into this role.

Two seats are free in the capsule that will be used to bring the astronauts home.

What’s more, in case the space station suffers an emergency that forces an evacuation before that capsule arrives, the station’s crew had to jerry-rig two extra seats in a different SpaceX spacecraft that’s currently docked there.

NASA started its commercial crew program to encourage industry to take over the job of ferrying astronauts and cargo to the station, so that it could focus on going back to the moon and beyond.