NASA and Boeing ‘were split’ over Sunita Williams rescue plan, Steve Stich admits ahead of Starliner's uncrewed return

Steve Stich, NASA's manager for the Commercial Crew program, was up-front about the US space agency and Boeing's difference in opinions over the rescue plan for Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

After a purported ego tussle, as previously reported by The New York Post, the government body and the aerospace company arrived at the decision that it was too risky for the astronaut duo to be aboard the faulty Starliner during its homecoming journey set for Earth. Ultimately, the Boeing spacecraft is set to embark on the interstellar ride back home uncrewed on Thursday, September 5 and is expected to reach its destination: Earth on September 7.

Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore will have to wait it out at the International Space Station (ISS) for Elon Musk's SpaceX Crew-9 mission to rescue them in February 2025.

This game plan completely discarded the original mission design, considering the Starliner's defective state due to helium leaks and thruster malfunctions. NASA astronauts were supposed to complete their to-and-fro journey from the ISS to Earth on Starliner. However, since that's no longer the case, with the astronaut's safety being prioritised over anything else, the situation has not transpired in Boeing's favour.

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NASA execs admit tension with Boeing over Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore rescue plan

During a teleconference on Wednesday, September 4, NASA's Steve Stich confirmed that the discussion leading up to the final decision favouring Boeing's rival company for the rescue mission led to “some tension in the room.”

“I would say, anytime you’re in a meeting of this magnitude, where there's this kind of decision, there is some tension in the room,” Stich said of the decision to bring the Starliner home without astronauts.

He set the record straight: "The teams were very split.”

Stich also affirmed that Boeing “believed in the model that they had created that tried to predict thruster degradation for the rest of the flight." However, NASA “saw some limitations” in it upon further review.

Their final call was based on whether they had confidence in the Starliner's thrusters. Although NASA's ISS program manager Dana Weigel agreed that Boeing reassured the agency of their belief in the spacecraft, she also accentuated that the MNC corp was not in the same position as them.

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NASA ultimately had the final say

"Boeing is not in a position, and it would be unfair of them to ask, to weigh into a risk versus risk trade for this scenario that NASA was weighing, which was bringing them home in the Starliner crewed, or coming up with an alternate plan,” Weigel said during the press conference. Ultimately, Boeing acknowledged that the ball was in NASA's court.

Despite the “tensions in the room” comment, Steve Stich highlighted that their disagreement was not the conventional “yelling, screaming kind of meeting.”

“It was a tense technical discussion where we had both sides listening intently to all the data.”

These official revelations follow the NY Post report, in which a NASA exec familiar with these “heated” interactions claimed, “The thinking around here was that Boeing was being wildly irresponsible.”

Moreover, the head of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program, Mark Nappi, reportedly disseminated an internal mail, saying: “I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to carry out the actions necessary to support NASA’s decision.”

“The focus remains first and foremost on ensuring the safety of the crew and spacecraft. I have the utmost confidence in this team to prepare Starliner for a safe and successful uncrewed return with the same level of professionalism and determination as you did the first half of the mission,” Nappi added about the Starliner's uncrewed return mission to Earth.

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