Sunita Williams news: Is Starliner safe to return from space? NASA to share update on Saturday

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is expected to decide on the plan to bring back Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore by the end of August. It's now said that the top US space agency will hold review session on Saturday to discuss whether Boeing's new capsule is safe enough to return two astronauts from the International Space Station.

In a press release on Thursday, NASA said, “NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and leadership will hold an internal Agency Test Flight Readiness Review on Saturday, August 24, for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test.”

NASA said the review will include a mission status update, review of technical data and closeout actions, as well as certify flight rationale to proceed with undocking and return of Starliner from the space station.

An announcement is expected from Houston once the meeting ends.

"About an hour later, NASA will host a live news conference at 1 p.m. EDT from the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston," NASA added.

In their last update on Being Starliner, Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, had said, “We're reaching a point where that last week in August we really should be making a call, if not sooner.”

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing's Starliner on June 5. The return of the test flight from space has now been delayed by months as officials work to fix the spacecraft. During the flight on June 5, Starliner encountered thruster failures and helium leaks so serious that NASA kept the capsule parked at the ISS.

The agency said that NASA and Boeing have gathered data, both in space and on the ground, regarding the Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion and helium systems "to better understand the ongoing technical challenges".

Starliner Vs SPaceX Dragon

While Starliner remains the primary option to return Sunita and Butch from space, NASA is weighing other options in case Starliner is not fit enough. If NASA decides SpaceX is the way to go, Starliner would return to Earth empty in September.

Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, said earlier that the NASA has been working with SpaceX. "We have been working with SpaceX to ensure that they are ready to respond on Crew 9... returning Butch and Suni on Crew 9 if we need that."

To bring them back on a SpaceX craft, NASA would have to re-plan the SpaceX Crew-9 mission by launching only two crew members instead of four in late September. The two Starliner astronauts would then return to Earth after the regularly scheduled Crew-9 increment early next year.

Meanwhile, engineers are evaluating a new computer model for the Starliner thrusters and how they might perform as the capsule descends out of orbit for a touchdown in the US Western desert. The results, including updated risk analyses, will factor into the final decision, NASA said.

It was the Starliner's first astronaut flight, delayed for years by a multitude of capsule problems. Two previous Starliner test flights had no one on board.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago, after the space shuttles retired, to ferry its astronauts to and from the station. SpaceX has been at it since 2020.

(With inputs from agencies)