Boeing's Starliner is facing challenges such as helium leakage and thruster failures, which may result in astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore being stranded at the International Space Station (ISS) until NASA devises a backup plan to bring them back to Earth. According to a report by CNBC, NASA is considering using the SpaceX Dragon capsule to bring the astronauts back in February 2025. Until then, Williams and Wilmore might continue to live on the ISS as full-time expedition crew members. Full-time expedition crew members, compared to test-flight crew will have different roles and responsibilities at the ISS. According to NASA, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are still guests at the ISS and are not a part of Expedition 71. However, if Boeing fails to rectify the issues and they end up at the ISS until February, they will be transitioned into full-time crew members and have to take up duties similar to expedition crew members. According to Dana Weigel, NASA’s manager of the International Space Station Program, “Butch and Suni are fully trained, they’re capable and current with EVA (spacewalks), with robotics, with all the things we need them to do”. “A couple of years ago, we made the decision — knowing that this was a test flight — to make sure that we had the right resources, supplies and training for the crew, just in case they needed to be on ISS, for whatever reason, for a longer period of time,” Weigel adds. NASA is reportedly considering sending Boeing's Starliner to space without any astronauts on board. This would leave SpaceX's Dragon Crew-9 mission as the return vehicle for the astronauts currently on the International Space Station. SpaceX's Dragon Crew-9, which has a capacity of four passengers, may only carry two astronauts to the ISS in order to accommodate the returning crew.
