Elon Musk’s SpaceX will rescue two astronauts who have been stranded in space since June after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft encountered problems.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced at a press conference on Saturday that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return to Earth in February of next year on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
Wilmore and Williams have been stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since their Starliner spacecraft experienced five thruster malfunctions and five helium leaks.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Sunni will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” Nelson explained.
The astronauts blasted off from Florida on June 5, and they were initially slated to return to Earth on June 13. However, NASA later announced on June 18 that they were looking to bring the astronauts home on June 26.
During the astronauts’ 25-hour flight to space, engineers realized that the Starliner spacecraft was experiencing problems with its thrusters and experiencing helium leaks.
“Space flight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine,” Nelson said. “And a test flight, by nature, is neither safe nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station, and bring the Boeing Starliner home, uncrewed, is the result of a commitment to safety.”
Boeing employees labeled the decision to have SpaceX rescue the NASA astronauts as being “shameful.”
“We have had so many embarrassments lately, we’re under a microscope,” one Boeing employee told the New York Post. “This just made it, like, 100 times worse.”
The employee added that the Boeing employees hate SpaceX and added that they “talk s**t about them all the time.”
“It’s shameful,” he added. “I’m embarrassed, I’m horrified.”
NASA previously announced at the beginning of August that it was “evaluating all options for the return” of Williams and Wilmore.