+Comment NASA has decided that the Boeing Starliner pilots stuck on the International Space Station will return to Earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon pod next year – after the US agency's engineers were unable to clear the Starliner's thrusters for the return journey.
NASA decides Boeing's Starliner is too risky for return | SpaceX Crew Dragon takes over
To recap: Boeing flew its Starliner capsule with two pilots aboard to the orbiting space station in June for what was expected to be a mission lasting about a week. The astronaut couple, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, would return home in that capsule. They were expected to be back by now.
But their journey home was put on hold by NASA due to concerns over the Calamity Capsule's propellers and helium leaks, leaving the duo stuck on the ISS with their other crew.
After much deliberation, with Boeing insisting its equipment was safe enough, the official plan now, announced over the weekend by NASA, is to return the Starliner pod without its crew to Earth in early September.
