It’s been 55 days since Boeing launched the Starliner on a mission to the International Space Station. Unfortunately for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, problems with the Starliner turned what was supposed to be a 10-day trip into a multi-month ordeal that has no end in sight. Allegedly, they could totally return to Earth any time they want, but they’re just being cautious. Then again, considering CNBC reports delays caused the Starliner to go more than $1.5 billion over budget, and there are two lives at risk, that’s definitely understandable.
To be clear, the Starliner cost a lot more than $1.5 billion to develop. Boeing’s fixed-price contract with NASA was reportedly nearly $5 billion. Ever since it won the contract back in 2014, the aerospace giant has posted a loss on the project every single year. It’s also far from the only project Boeing has lost money on in the last several years, but it’s currently the most prominent. It’s also probably safe to assume the changes and repairs that will be necessary whenever it eventually gets back here will set Boeing back even further.
Then again, it’s not like we didn’t know the Starliner was far from perfect. It was originally supposed to launch in May, but NASA it back just two hours before launch. Following the delay, a NASA contractor called on the agency to ground the spacecraft citing a “risk of disaster. By June, NASA thought the Starliner was ready, but upon launch, it ran into issues with helium leaks and several faulty thrusters.
The good news for both Williams and Wilmore is that they shouldn’t be in any immediate danger. NASA keeps a reserve of supplies on board the ISS just in case something unexpected happens. As Sally Ride can tell you, NASA likes to be over prepared. Plus, it sounds like the Starliner is finally getting close to being ready to return. In a blog post, Boeing said they had just completed a docked hot-fire test and that the helium systems are currently stable.
“The integrated teams between Starliner and ISS worked extremely well together this week to finalize and safely execute the docked hotfire sequence,” Starliner flight director Chloe Mehring said in a statement. “Both teams were very happy with the results.”
According to Boeing, it plans to conduct a Flight Test Readiness Review later this week. A return date has yet to be announced, but the aerospace giant claims “opportunities are available throughout August.”