NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the space station June 6 after lifting off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida a day earlier.
The astronauts were expected to spend about a week on the ISS, returning to Earth on June 14, but they’re still orbiting Earth due to issues with Starliner, the Boeing spacecraft that sent them into space via the rocket.
Here’s a timeline of the saga:
May 6, 2024: First Crew Flight Test was scheduled to liftoff at 10:34 pm. Called off with 2 hours left in the countdown due to an oxygen relief valve issue in the United Launch Alliance Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage.
May 14, 2024: Boeing announces Starliner teams are working to resolve a small helium leak detected in the spacecraft’s service module traced to a flange on a single reaction control system thruster.
May 21, 2024: May 6 scrubbed launch was rescheduled to liftoff at 4:43pm, but pushed to May 25 so teams could finalize next steps that address a stable helium leak on the Starliner service module
May 22, 2024: NASA announced the teams are now working toward a launch opportunity at 12:25pm on Saturday, June 1 with additional opportunities on Sunday, June 2 as mission managers continue to evaluate a path forward toward launching Starliner’s Crew Flight Test
June 1, 2024: Launch set for 12:25pm, but it was scrubbed with less than 4 minutes to go on the countdown clock due to a computer on the launch pad.
June 5, 2024: Boeing Starliner launched at 10:52am with NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams. Hours after liftoff, flight controllers detected two new helium leaks in the propulsion system of the spacecraft.
June 6, 2024: Starliner docked with the International Space Station and Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were welcomed inside the space station. Prior to their arrival, four of Starliner’s engines stopped working. The pair had to take manual control of the autopiloted spaceship to get them back on track. The NASA astronauts scheduled to stay on board for about eight days.
June 8, 2024: NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams gave a tour of the spacecraft
June 14, 2024: NASA and Boeing announce they are pushing back the return date of Starliner and crew to June 22. The additional time allows teams to finalize departure planning.
June 18, 2024: NASA says the undocking of Starliner would now happen June 25 at 10:10pm with landing happening early June 26 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
June 21, 2024: NASA and Boeing adjust the June 26 return to Earth citing a busy schedule in space with two spacewalks on the schedule. So a return would not happen until after the second spacewalk on July 2. NASA says there is no rush, there’s plenty of food and supplies and the astronauts can stay at the space station for months, if need be.
June 28, 2024: NASA and Boeing took a return date off the calendar. Mission managers said they needed to run more tests on the Starliner capsule before the astronauts could ride it back to Earth. Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program said “Butch and Suni are not standed in space. Our plan is to continue to return them on Starliner and return them home at the right time. Still have work to do but they’re safe up there and enjoying their time on the space station.”
July 10, 2024: NASA says the crew of Boeing’s Starliner test flight will likely stay in orbit for several more weeks. Suni Williams told media outlets “Yeah, I have a real good feeling in my heart that this spacecraft will bring us home no problem. I’m not complaining, Butch isn’t complaining that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”
July 25, 2024: Leadership from NASA and Boeing will participate in a media teleconference at 11:20am to provide the latest status of the agency’s Crew Flight Test mission.
Aug. 14: NASA and Boeing officials said they are still deciding whether to keep two astronauts at the International Space Station until early next year and send their troubled Boeing capsule back empty.
Aug. 24: NASA decided it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.
Sept. 4: Boeing confirms that it will attempt to return its problem-plagued Starliner capsule from the International Space Station on Sept. 6 -- with two empty seats. The fully automated capsule will aim for a touchdown in New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range six hours after departing the ISS.