On June 5th, 2024, a crew of two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, were sent to space to test if people could get to the ISS space station safely using the Starliner. After being in space for three months, the duo was ready to be taken back to Earth. On September 24th, the return shuttle that had been sent had many problems with its design. The return shuttle had many helium leaks and thruster issues.

According to CBS News, “After weeks of debate, NASA has ruled out bringing two astronauts back to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule because of lingering concerns about multiple helium leaks and degraded thrusters, both critical to a successful re-entry, officials said Saturday.”

Without a way to return to Earth, Williams and Wilmore are stranded in space for an additional five months until February 6th, 2025. Many may think the duo were devastated but both decided being stuck in space wasn’t all that bad. “This is my happy place. I love being up here in space,” Sunita remarks.

Being in space is an amazing experience for the two, but they still miss many events back on Earth. Both have children and are going to be absent from many achievements until they come down. One article noted, “Williams couldn’t help but fret for a while over losing precious face-to-face time with her mother. Wilmore won’t be around for his youngest daughter’s final year of high school.”

Does the crew have enough food to last them half a year? Sunita and Barry have enough food to last them because extra food and water are always packed during space missions in case a situation like this one appears. NASA will also send supply ships to the space station so the duo won’t run out of food. People.com supports this by stating, “‘They try to think of everything…They do have extras up there, but they also have supply ships that go up there.”

Boeing has been set back from projects because of this situation. Boeing has already spent $1.5 billion on funding this project and more spending is yet to come. NASA had run tests on the Starliner and found many faults, but Boeing decided it was ready to fly. NBC News interviewed a NASA administrator who said, “‘Spaceflight is risky — even at its safest and even at its most routine–and a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine, and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.’ NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Saturday at a news briefing.”

NASA turned to the owner of the SpaceX program to help with the attempts to return the astronauts to Earth. Boeing was already embarrassed by the events that happened in Alaska earlier this year when a Boeing airplane door plug flew off making the plane crash and killing everyone on board. With no other choice, Boeing allowed Elon Musk to help with the rescue efforts. Foxbusiness.com reported,  “Ultimately, NASA decided Saturday to tap Elon Musk’s SpaceX— Boeing’s main space rival — to shuttle the astronauts home early next year on a SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon mission. Starliner will make an uncrewed return.”

All three companies have come together and are now trying to build a shuttle to send to the space station. With plans underway on getting Sunita and Barry back to Earth, these efforts seem to be going well. The two have been extremely optimistic about being stuck and are enjoying their time in the ISS space station. Hopefully, with the collaboration of the three companies, these stuck astronauts can get back home.