A 2025 SpaceX shuttle will be rescuing two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS), the National Aviation and Space Administration (NASA) said on Saturday. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will be able to return home in February 2025 via a SpaceX shuttle after issues with a Boeing Starliner left them stranded.
“NASA has decided that Butch [Barry Wilmore] and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” Bill Nelson, a spokesperson for NASA told reporters. The delay was caused by malfunctions with the thrusters on the Boeing aircraft. The decision by NASA is a win for SpaceX as it competes with Boeing for NASA contracts.
Boeing has come under fire recently for malfunctions with many of its aircraft. In March, an Airworthiness Directive from the FAA discovered changes in the assembly of a cover plate in Boeing’s 777 jet fleet “could lead to electrostatic discharge to the surrounding structure.” This discharge could potentially ignite the fuel tank, leading to fires or explosions.
In April, a Boeing whistleblower, former quality manager Santiago Paredes, said he was pressured to routinely hide errors when he worked at its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. This comes as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had launched an investigation into Boeing after it reported that employees of its South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on 787 planes.
Many whistleblowers have come forward, exposing safety issues with Boeing’s manufacturing. Following the mysterious deaths of two former employees-turned-whistleblowers in less than two months earlier this year, Boeing faced another wave of intense public and government scrutiny in April. With at least 10 more whistleblowers in the process of exposing safety concerns, the crisis for Boeing only became worse.
As THAIMBC previously reported, 45-year-old Joshua Dean, a quality auditor for Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died suddenly from a “sudden, fast-spreading infection” earlier this year after being hospitalized with breathing problems. In 2022, Dean had sounded the alarm over manufacturing defects in Spirit’s components for the Boeing 737 MAX, only to be fired in retaliation less than a year later.
For more on the suspicious deaths of Boeing whistleblowers, as well as the company’s response, check out this special episode of “Drink Tank: An Unusual Suspects Production.”
