After NASA announced there could be a long wait before two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, could return to Earth, the agency had a series of heated arguments with Boeing, a report revealed.
According to the The New York PostSeveral meetings were held between senior officials of both companies and there were instances of “shouting and arguing”.
On Sunday, POT He said the two astronauts would not return until February 2025. However, Boeing’s Starliner capsule would return without Williams and Wilmore in September of this year.
He New York The report quoted an official as saying that Boeing He was “convinced” that Starliner was capable of bringing them back, but NASA said it was “too risky.”
“Boeing was seen here as acting in a wildly irresponsible manner,” one official was quoted as saying in the report.
This means that the expedition, which was originally planned to last a week, will now be extended to at least eight months. The trip to the International Space Station took place in June this year on an eight-day journey.
They were stranded when some helium leaks were discovered on the Starliner. Reports say they were already aware of the leaks, but they were more numerous than anticipated.
Now, the two astronauts are likely to return on a SpaceX taxi flight that will likely launch in late September.
It is worth noting that Boeing had received $4.2 billion from NASA to build the transport capsule that would take six astronauts to the ISS, but it failed on its first trip.
On the other hand, Elon Musk’s SpaceX The company received $2.6 billion and has already completed nine flights in its Crew Dragon capsule. This will be its tenth mission.
Boeing was already facing safety concerns in its aircraft business. Following NASA’s announcement, Boeing said it “continues to focus first and foremost on crew and spacecraft safety.”
“We are executing the mission as determined by NASA and are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return,” the statement said.
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