Two astronauts stranded in space due to malfunctioning Boeing ship

©Capture screen/Youtube Boeing, boeing, boeing… To infinity and death.

Launched into orbit on June 5, NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are facing an unenviable ordeal: due to a malfunction in the Starliner spacecraft, built by Boeing, they could well remain on the International Space Station (ISS) until 2025.

They were supposed to stay in space for only eight days, but a completely different program is taking shape. The problem encountered in the capsule prevents them from guaranteeing a safe return to Earth. The irony is that the mission was intended to demonstrate the reliability of Boeing's ship. To do this, three tests spanning a month had been carried out before managing, on the fourth attempt, to take off. However, the journey was no less chaotic. A “small leak” of helium and five of the twenty-eight thrusters present stopped during the flight. As a result, even if Boeing insists that the astronauts return with the same ship, ensuring its reliability, NASA refuses to risk their skin.

To resolve this major inconvenience, a rather unexpected savior could appear. And it is not Boeing. The decision will not be official before mid-August, and it is controversial, but it would be Elon Musk, through SpaceX, who would be considered as the fallback solution.

Enough to jeopardize Boeing's Starliner space program and make SpaceX the big winner of this mission. The two astronautics and spaceflight companies have been in competition since 2014. But Boeing can no longer keep up with the frantic race in space. According to information from Monde, an independent audit will have highlighted no less than eighty failures and years of delays. The additional costs would be more than 1.4 billion dollars. No small feat.

Under consideration for the moment, the backup plan would be to graft onto one of the relief flights of the four permanent crew members to the ISS in order to integrate the two astronauts into the return flight. The next one would then be carried out by SpaceX in February 2025. A crucial decision for NASA that would offer a new path to the billionaire's company and bury the century-old aeronautical manufacturer in its space sector. Needless to say, many people are hanging on the every word of the Federal Agency, which is due to deliver its verdict in mid-August. 

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