NASA Still Uncertain How to Safely Return Boeing Starliner Crew Back to Earth

NASA remains undecided on how to safely return Boeing Starliner's crew to Earth as astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams soon spend their second month stuck at the International Space Station.

In a statement to Ars Technica, NASA claimed it is already "evaluating all options" to secure a safe return mission after the agency first reported helium leaks and failing thrusters in the Starliner capsule shortly after it arrived at the ISS last June.

NASA, Boeing Complete Thruster Tests for Starliner Return Flight

So far, NASA and Boeing have already completed preliminary thruster tests to "buy down" risks for the trip back to the Earth's atmosphere, consistent with its previous remarks about the mission's several delays.

The agency continues to insist that these setbacks as "pretty small" issues that could be resolved in the following missions.

Insider sources earlier claimed NASA is currently looking higher than 50-50 chance for the Starliner crew's safe return.

Boeing Starliner Mission Continues to Face Delays

While NASA claimed delays like these are nothing new for the agency, Boeing continues to incur huge losses as delays hit the company's mission.

In a July 31 filing, Boeing reported that it has taken an additional $125 million loss following earlier delays in launching its first Starliner crewed mission.

This is in addition to earlier reported expenses, costing the aerospace manufacturer over $1.6 billion throughout the program since NASA contracted the company and SpaceX to provide crewed launch services to the ISS.

For comparison, SpaceX, which was awarded $2.6 billion, has completed its first crewed flight to the ISS in 2020 and is already gearing up to resume missions this August.

Boeing was granted over $4.2 billion and is still on its first crewed mission, over 10 years since it received the contract.