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They were supposed to travel to space for eight days but they will end up staying there for eight months: the two astronauts transported to the International Space Station (ISS) will not be able to return to Earth in the ship Starliner the Boeing and they will have to do it with their competitor SpaceX In February, he announced the NASA.
That the US space agency has opted for this solution is a slap in the face for its historic social Boeing, with repercussions for the crew, due to the extension of the astronauts’ stay Butch Wilmore y Sunny Williams in the EEI.
And also because they will have to return in a ship from the rival company owned by the tycoon. Elon Musk.
“NASA has decided that Butch y A dog will return with the Crew-9 crew next February, and that Starliner will return without a crew,” announced the head of the NASABill Nelson, at a press conference on Saturday following a meeting of the operational decision-making committee.
Boeing, for its part, said in a press release that the focus of its program is “centering, above all, on the safety of the crew and the aircraft.”
This is a new setback for the American giant, which suffered repeated setbacks due to failures in its production of airliners and delays in space projects.
Butch Wilmore y Sunny Williams They took off in early June aboard the Starliner and have remained on the ISS ever since, where their spacecraft remained docked.
Initially, Starliner was supposed to bring them back to Earth eight days after taking off, but problems with its propulsion system led NASA to question its reliability and adopt an alternative solution.
The two astronauts stranded on the ISS “fully support the agency’s decision and are ready to continue their mission on board,” NASA official Norm Knight said.
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2024-08-30 10:07:29