Elon Musk’s company SpaceX will help NASA rescue two astronauts trapped on the International Space Station (ISS) and bring them back to Earth early next year.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams have been on the ISS since June. They had initially arrived for an eight-day mission, but they were unable to return due to problems with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
Wilmore and Williams are expected to return next February on a Crew Dragon capsule manufactured by SpaceX, NASA announced on Saturday (August 24).
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will help NASA rescue two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station
Image credits: Michael A. McCoy / Stringer / Getty Images
The duo were the first to ride Starliner when they were launched to the ISS on June 5. The Boeing spacecraft experienced helium leaks and thruster issues in the first 24 hours of the flight to the ISS, as per The Telegraph.
NASA considered these issues to pose a significant risk to the astronauts, so it decided that the Starliner should make an uncrewed return to Earth, and Wilmore and Williams would return on the Crew Dragon spacecraft.
“I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to carry out the action’s necessary to support Nasa’s decision,” Boeing’s Starliner Chief Mark Nappi said in an email following NASA’s announcement.
“The focus remains first and foremost on ensuring the safety of the crew and spacecraft.”
The spacecraft manufacturer will send its Crew Dragon capsule to the ISS to bring the astronauts back to Earth
Responding to a press question about how NASA can trust Boeing again, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said that there was “just a little disagreement (between NASA and Boeing) in terms of the level of risk.”
“It just depends on how you evaluate the risk,” Stich said. “We did it a little differently with our crew than Boeing did.”
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle has flown about a dozen crewed missions to space since it started operations in 2020.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams have been on the ISS since June
NASA has been funding Musk‘s company and trusting it for major operations for several years. In October 2021, the space agency awarded a contract to SpaceX for $2.9 billion to use its Starship rocket to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
NASA’s recent announcement comes in the wake of an investigation by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) into SpaceX. The investigation centers on allegations that the company forced workers to sign severance agreements.
The probe is currently on hold after the spacecraft manufacturer filed a lawsuit challenging the NLRB’s structure. In July, a federal judge in Texas ruled that the company’s suit may proceed, pausing the NLRB’s investigation.
Last year, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, accusing Musk’s company of hiring discrimination.
The DOJ alleged in August 2023 that SpaceX “routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).”
SpaceX denied these claims and filed a countersuit, citing export control laws and regulations. A federal judge agreed with SpaceX’s position, putting the DOJ’s case on hold pending the outcome of the countersuit.
The astronauts had initially arrived for an eight-day mission, but they were unable to return due to problems with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft
Moreover, electric car maker Tesla, of which Musk is CEO, has been under investigation since 2021 for alleged fraudulent advertising of partially automated vehicles.
The criminal probe centers on the company’s marketing of its cars’ automation capabilities, which include terms like “autopilot” and “full self-driving.” The investigation was initiated following a series of crashes that occurred while Tesla’s partially automated driving system was activated.
People took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to comment on SpaceX’s rescue mission and the company’s rivalry with Boeing
