NASA on Saturday announced the Boeing Starliner to Earth will return to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Instead, Elon Musk's SpaceX has been tasked with returning the crew home from the International Space Station in early 2025.
Meanwhile, SpaceX prepared to conduct the first spacewalk with private citizens, and the mission could launch as early as this week. However, the venture into very uncharted territory carries risk.
NASA on Saturday said that the Boeing crew will fly home from the space station on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February 2025, along with two other members assigned to the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Officials expect the Boeing Starliner to depart from the space station and land in early September via autonomous reentry.
The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to gather more testing data on the Starliner during the flight home, without accepting unnecessary risks for the crew, NASA said.
NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams docked at the space station on June 6 and were initially scheduled to stay for about a week. However, five of the capsule's 28 thrusters malfunctioned during the docking procedure. NASA and Boeing then delayed the Starliner return multiple times.
BofA in a Monday note wrote it "would not be surprised" if Boeing divested from the manned spaceflight business, The Fly reported. Boeing's Starliner has faced significant challenges since its inception. And this latest incident could negatively affect the Dow Jones company's reputation with NASA, the firm wrote. BofA said it is encouraged by the appointment of Kelly Ortberg as CEO. But it still sees Boeing "in limbo as it works through operation challenges under new leadership."
BofA maintained a neutral rating on Boeing stock.
Boeing stock ticked down 0.8% Monday. Shares unraveled 33.4% this year amid its various quality control issues.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn Mission
Meanwhile, SpaceX is preparing to conduct the first-ever spacewalk with private citizens. The space flight, dubbed the Polaris Dawn, is set to launch Tuesday, barring any weather incidents or malfunctions.
The Polaris Dawn mission will travel all the way to the inner band of the Van Allen radiation belts, and the crew will orbit about 870 miles from Earth. The Van Allen belts are zones of radiation, where high-energy particles from the sun interact with Earth's atmosphere. The Polaris Dawn mission will mark the highest altitude that humans have traveled since the Apollo program ended in the 1970s.
The crew includes Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, who helped fund the mission and serves as mission commander. Shift4 VP of Strategy and retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Scott Poteet is the mission pilot. Sarah Gillis, lead space operations engineer at SpaceX, is the mission specialist. Gillis also oversees SpaceX's astronaut training program. Anna Menon, who also serves as lead space operations engineer at SpaceX, will serve as mission specialist and medical officer. Menon previously spent seven years at NASA as a biomedical flight controller for the International Space Station.
The mission objectives include testing Starlink laser-based communications, as well as the impact of radiation on humans, equipment and biological samples. During their five days in orbit, two of the crew members will also conduct a spacewalk outside the Crew Dragon capsule.
The Polaris mission was first announced in 2022 and the crew spent the last two years undergoing training.
Unique Challenges
However, the mission has a series of challenges as it ventures to unchartered territory. The Dragon capsule does not have an airlock, meaning the cabin has to be depressurized for 45 hours prior to the spacewalk. The capsule only has one hatch, which will expose the entire crew and equipment directly to radiation. Only Isaacman and Gillis will exit the craft while tethered.
SpaceX is also using the mission to debut its Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit that it has developed over the last two years. The EVA suits are designed to provide greater mobility than NASA suits and include a heads-up display in the camera. Unlike NASA suits, which have a life support pack attached to the back, life support for the EVA suits are fed by cords in the spacecraft.
During an Aug. 19 news conference, SpaceX officials and Polaris crew members said they planned various contingency scenarios for any mission issues, such as an oxygen leak or failure to reseal the hatch door. However, they did not detail what the plans were, Reuters reported.
SpaceX is targeting a 3:38 a.m. launch time on Tuesday for the mission.
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