NASA vs Boeing: Sunita Williams return to earth row turns into an ego tussle

Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to return to Earth in February 2025, with Elon Musk’s SpaceX coming to their rescue.

However, this conclusion to their stranded status was presumably not something the space giant’s rival Boeing readily agreed to. With its reputation on the line, Boeing reportedly pushed the idea that its spacecraft was in “good enough condition to bring the astronauts home.” As expected, NASA strongly disagreed with the notion, owing to its multiplying issues with malfunctioning thrusters and helium leaks that have already significantly delayed Williams and Wilmore’s homecoming.

The pair initially embarked on their eight-day journey on June 5 but found themselves stuck in space for months. While they’ve been trapped aboard the ISS, NASA and Boeing have been going back and forth, stuck in their contentiously “heated” meetings, deciding how to bring them back.

Although Williams and Wilmore’s interstellar stay has again been expanded to nearly eight months, the SpaceX mission set to take off in February is now being deemed a ray of hope.

NASA reportedly slams Boeing as “wildly irresponsible” over Starliner claims
On August 30, the New York Post dropped a bombshell report, revealing insight from NASA and Boeing executives detailing how the tense meetings between senior-level employees over the issue devolved into argumentative tussles.

A NASA exec familiar with these interactions said, “The thinking around here was that Boeing was being wildly irresponsible.” Ultimately, the US space agency crossed the field to join hands with Musk’s SpaceX, ruling out Boeing’s purported pushback.

As could have been anticipated, “Boeing wasn’t happy” with the result, the NASA official maintained.

“And they made that perfectly clear to us. But what’s the headline if there’s a catastrophic failure? It’s not ‘Boeing killed two astronauts,’ it’s ‘NASA killed two astronauts.’ So no, it’s better safe than sorry.”

Evidence of the company’s disapproval was also foregrounded in an internal email last week.

Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner return scheduled for September
The media outlet further amplified the message highlighted in the head of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, Mark Nappi, ‘s mail to the employees: “I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to carry out the actions necessary to support NASA’s decision.”

“The focus remains first and foremost on ensuring the safety of the crew and spacecraft. I have the utmost confidence in this team to prepare Starliner for a safe and successful uncrewed return with the same level of professionalism and determination as you did the first half of the mission,” Nappi added.

Despite the reported crossfire between NASA and Boeing, the government agency hasn’t completely sworn off the latter. “I think the key word is partner,” NASA spokesperson Bowersox said at a press conference.

“A lot of people want to focus on the contractual relationship where we’re buying something from a company. This isn’t completely like that, right? We have a contract with Boeing, but it’s to work together to develop this capability for our country.”

Nevertheless, the irony of the situation isn’t lost on people. As announced on August 29, Boeing’s maiden crewed Starliner will leave the ISS uncrewed no earlier than the forthcoming Friday, September 6. If all goes according to the scheduled plan, undocking will happen at 6:04 pm EDT, with the capsule hopefully landing in White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico six hours later.

While SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule prepares for its tenth voyage – a rescue mission, Boeing hopes that the Starliner’s Earth-coming journey will be a success to prove NASA’s “strongly disagreed” move wrong.