Imagine spending years planning a trip to the International Space Station, only to finally get there and find yourself stranded because your ride just wasn’t up to the task of getting you back to Earth. That’s what’s happening with Starliner right now, and the latest Starliner update from NASA isn’t exactly inspiring.
During a live conference on August 14, NASA shared more details about the ongoing Starliner fiasco—which has left two astronauts stranded aboard the ISS since June. Now, halfway through August, it doesn’t look like there is a solution to the problems plaguing Starliner just yet.
And it doesn’t seem like NASA is ready to make a call on how to handle things with this latest Starliner update, either. In fact, the space agency has said it won’t make a final decision on how to approach the issue until the end of August. That might seem a bit extravagant, but there is a lot to take into account in a situation like this.
However, that doesn’t excuse just how absolutely crazy it has been to watch all of this play out. NASA and Boeing both knew that Starliner had issues. The launch of the flight test to the ISS had been canned multiple times because of issues with various parts of the system running Starliner. Yet, they still sent those astronauts into orbit, knowing that more issues might arise.
There’s also the fact that bringing the astronauts back on a SpaceX ship isn’t just as simple as sending a Dragon pod up to them. The spacesuits the two are wearing right now are designed for Starliner, which means they wouldn’t work in a SpaceX craft. NASA shared in the latest Starliner update that it could mean coming home without a spacesuit on.
That’s pretty dangerous, especially if anything were to cause issues with the SpaceX craft’s environment. Without space suits, astronauts would face additional dangers. There’s also the entire risk of taking in extra radiation the longer they spend aboard the ISS.
NASA highlighted all of this to make it clear that both Boeing and NASA are working together to solve the issue and that it isn’t just as simple as switching out the spacecraft. So, it seems they might still try to get Starliner working in one way or another. But, if they can’t fix those leaks, it could mean coming down with less control over the deorbiting process—a huge risk that could end in a lot of trouble.
All we can do right now is cross our fingers and hope that Boeing and NASA come up with a plan soon to help bring these astronauts home. Starliner’s first crewed flight might have been technically successful, but it’s hard to look at this entire debacle as anything more than a failure.
