Stevie Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager, said in a conference call with reporters on Aug. 7, mission control has yet to set a date for the return of stranded US astronauts and has said it may use SpaceX’s manned Dragon spacecraft as a backup plan.
If the crew of Boeing’s interstellar airliner needs SpaceX’s manned dragon spacecraft, both astronauts will join the CREW-9 mission and return in February 2025, Stich said. At present, NASA has not made a final decision.
On June 6, American astronauts Bary Wilmore and Suni, Sardinia Wilhemlms arrived at the International Space Station aboard the interstellar passenger jet, scheduled to return to Earth on June 14, however, due to the problems of thruster failure and helium leakage, the time of re-entry was delayed again and again. This is the first manned test flight of the Starliner. By June 6, Wilmore and Wilhemlms had been stranded on the International Space Station for two months.