Two astronauts are stuck in space
In some ways, a recent American mission to the International Space Station was routine . Astronauts Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore would go up to the station, deliver supplies and material, perform some experiments for eight days, and return to Earth. Both Williams and Wilmore are experienced astronauts toward the end of their careers; they’re 58 and 61 years old, respectively.
In one other way, though, this was a milestone mission . Williams and Wilmore would be going up on Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft . This would be the first time that Boeing would send astronauts to the Space Station. The purpose of the mission was to test the Starliner, to make sure that it can deliver future astronauts to the Space Station.
NASA, the American space agency , used to send astronauts to the Space Station on its own rockets , called the Space Shuttle. But NASA discontinued the Shuttle program in 2011. For a while, the American government paid to send astronauts aboard Russian spacecraft, while they developed another solution.
That other solution? Private companies . NASA wanted two private companies to be able to send American astronauts to the Space Station. So in 2014 they signed two contracts : one with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and one with Boeing.
Boeing—the private, American plane maker . It has been working with NASA on systems, design, and manufacturing of the Space Station since 1993. And now, with its new contract, it would build its own spacecraft to take astronauts directly up into space.
Of the two companies, SpaceX was considered the greater risk . It was a new company led by an eccentric founder . Boeing has a more than 100-year heritage and it had done work for NASA for decades. But it was SpaceX that became the more reliable partner for space missions. The first SpaceX mission to the Space Station went in 2020; the company has so far sent nine successful crewed missions to the Space Station.
Boeing’s program, on the other hand , has faced years of delays . But the Starliner, Boeing’s spacecraft, was finally ready to go this year. At last , Boeing would get astronauts onto the Space Station and NASA would have two partner companies—not just one—that could take Americans up there.
That, anyway, was the idea.
The Starliner took off on June 5, 2024 with Williams and Wilmore aboard. But NASA and Boeing engineers noticed problems with the thrusters on the way to the Space Station. They spotted a helium leak ; the helium pushed fuel into the thrusters. A helium leak could be dangerous: if couldn’t push fuel into the thrusters, the Starliner might be unable to steer or accelerate.
The Starliner docked to the Space Station without any major problems . But during the docking process , five out of the twenty-eight thrusters malfunctioned . And the problems engineers spotted were serious enough to make them doubt whether the Starliner could bring the astronauts safely back to Earth.
So NASA and Boeing had to decide what to do. Could they fix the Starliner while it was docked at the Space Station? Could a combination of software updates and repairs in space make it safe to bring the astronauts home? And if not, what would happen to the astronauts Williams and Wilmore?
On August 24, eighty days after the two astronauts left on their eight-day mission, NASA announced that it did not feel comfortable sending the astronauts home on the Starliner. Instead, the Starliner would have to come back to Earth on an unmanned mission : that is, it would come back to Earth without anyone on it.
That means Williams and Wilmore are stuck without a ride —they don’t have any way to get home. Until February. 2025. Yeah—eight months after their supposed eight-day mission began.
Here’s how they’re getting back. SpaceX was scheduled to send four astronauts up in September 2024 on a five-month mission. Now, they’ll only send two astronauts up there—and Williams and Wilmore will ride back to Earth in the two empty seats when that mission ends next February.
This is a major setback for both Boeing and NASA. First, Boeing has already lost over a billion dollars developing this spacecraft. It’s embarrassing that Boeing’s spacecraft malfunctioned in space and couldn’t complete its mission.
And NASA loses , too. The five-month SpaceX mission will now be less productive than planned because only two, and not four, astronauts can go up. And the agency will have to work with Boeing on repairs to the Starliner so that, hopefully, it can fly again.
But it’s Williams and Wilmore who will bear the greatest personal burden . They went up to space with clothes, material, and enough work for eight days. They went up thinking they’d be back in less than two weeks’ time. Instead, they’ll spend two-thirds of a year in a space capsule that measures 108 meters from end to end .
There is enough food and water for them to survive. Unmanned spacecraft go up to the Space Station fairly regularly , so they always will have enough food and supplies. The SpaceX flight in September will bring more supplies. The biggest impact is on their comfort and their productivity .
These veteran astronauts spend their time doing routine cleaning and maintenance on the site— purifying urine to reuse as drinking water, cleaning toilets , and the like. They don’t have eight months of scientific work to do. And the Space Station is crowded at the moment. Most astronauts and Russian cosmonauts sleep in special sleep bunkers . But those are all taken , so Williams and Wilmore have to sleep in common areas.
Jeff’s take
You can see a picture of them at PlainEnglish.com/710.
I’ll tell you one other thing. By their public statements , you would never know that these two astronauts were even slightly inconvenienced . They haven’t had a negative word to say. They haven’t shown frustration . Suni Williams called an elementary school and answered students’ questions—her long hair floating up around her head in the weightlessness of space.
I checked—and they will not set any records for the amount of time in space. Other astronauts have spent a year in space before. But still. Eight months when you were expecting eight days? I hope somebody does something really nice for them when they get back to Earth next year.
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