this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2024
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NASA says it is “evaluating all options” for the safe return of Starliner crew (arstechnica.com)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by llamacoffee to c/[email protected]
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One informed source said it was greater than a 50-50 chance that the crew would come back on Dragon. Another source said it was significantly more likely than not they would. To be clear, NASA has not made a final decision. This probably will not happen until at least next week. It is likely that Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator, will make the call.

Asked if it was now more likely than not that Starliner's crew would return on Dragon, NASA spokesperson Josh Finch told Ars on Thursday evening, " NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible. No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning."

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[–] halcyoncmdr 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

There is absolutely no danger related to this situation unless Boeing/NASA insist on using Starliner without being certain there won't be more issues.

Starliner won't be used if they aren't absolutely certain they can fly it back safely. And there is already a proven vehicle available to rescue the crew if necessary. This is a side effect of having multiple companies create launch vehicles post-Shuttle. If one design has an issue, there's another available to use instead while they figure that out.