NASA Rescue Mission May Be Falling Through

Two of NASA’s Astronauts have now been stranded in space for nearly three months. They could potentially hitchhike back to Earth on the SpaceX Dragon, with one catch: their spacesuits aren’t compatible.

On June 5, NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were shipped up to space in the Boeing Starliner. The mission was originally supposed to last eight days, but technical issues with the spacecraft have extended their stay. They are currently docked on the International Space Station, along with the SpaceX Crew-8 and Soyuz MS-25 crews.

In the case of an emergency, NASA and Boeing reassured, the Starliner is still capable of bringing the astronauts back down. Still, with several leaks and thruster failures, engineers have been scrambling to search for an alternate solution.

One of NASA’s plans is to send the pair onto a SpaceX craft. However, the Starliner crew’s spacesuits are incompatible with those on board the SpaceX. 

This discrepancy is due to the nature of NASA’s Commercial Crew. This program, which funded both Boeing and SpaceX spacecraft, allowed private partners to have freedom in their design. The submissions only had to meet NASA’s confirmed list of requirements and safety standards. Cross-compatibility of spacesuits, although usually upheld in NASA’s creations, was not enforced.

As a result, Boeing and SpaceX utilized different port designs. So, if Wilmore and Williams were to return on the SpaceX Crew-8 currently docked at the ISS, they would be flying without suits.

Another option is to wait for the next mission, the SpaceX Crew-9. This could be launched with just two astronauts on board instead of four to make room for Wilmore and William. Since their suits still wouldn’t attach properly, two extras would be sent up for them.

Either way, the Starliner crew would likely not come home until early 2025.