SPACE reports that NASA decided Saturday (Aug. 24) to return its two Boeing Starliner astronauts to Earth in February 2025. Their Starliner capsule will come back empty over thruster concerns. “NASA and Boeing jointly decided that Williams and Wilmore will not head back to Earth aboard the same Starliner capsule that brought them to the ISS. Rather, they will climb aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule for their descent to our planet, a vessel dedicated to the Crew-9 mission set to launch in September that will be modified to accommodate the Starliner astronauts.”
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Tag: spaceX Dragon
NASA Opts for SpaceX Dragon for Starliner Crew as Testing Continues on Boeing Capsule
Spaceflight Now reports, “The makeup of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station was announced publicly Thursday evening and it includes three astronauts who were previously assigned to other missions. Leading the flight, scheduled for no earlier than July 2025, is NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. She will be joined by fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.”
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