Astronauts Recount the Harrowing Moment Boeing’s Starliner Almost Doomed Them
In a candid interview, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams shared their experiences during the Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight which left them stranded in space for nine months. According to Wilmore, thruster failures almost doomed the pair to a fate far worse than an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.
The inaugural crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in June 2024 was marked by a series of thruster failures that left NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams in a precarious position. In a recent interview, the astronauts provided a detailed account of the harrowing events that transpired during the flight, which left them stranded in space until they were rescued by Donald Trump and Elon Musk. The interview reveals that the astronauts came far closer to a catastrophic failure and subsequent death in orbit than was previously known.
The June 2024 launch of Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, appeared to go smoothly at first. “Oh man, the launch was awesome,” Williams said. “Both of us looked at each other like, ‘Wow, this is going just perfectly.’”
However, as the Starliner approached the ISS for docking, a series of thruster failures put the mission and the lives of the astronauts in jeopardy. Wilmore, who had to take manual control of the vehicle, expressed his concern about the situation, stating, “I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point. I don’t know if we can. And matter of fact, I’m thinking we probably can’t.”
The loss of thrusters violated the mission’s flight rules, which dictated that the crew should abort the docking attempt and return to Earth. However, with the uncertainty surrounding Starliner’s ability to safely deorbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere, the astronauts and Mission Control faced a difficult decision. (Read more from “Astronauts Recount the Harrowing Moment Boeing’s Starliner Almost Doomed Them” HERE)
