After NASA announced that there may be a long wait before two astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, could be brought back to Earth, the agency had a series of heated arguments with Boeing, a report has revealed.
According to the New York Post, several meetings were organised by senior officials from both companies, and there were instances of “yelling and arguments”.
On Sunday, NASA said the two astronauts will return only in February 2025. However, their Boeing’s Starliner capsule would return without Williams and Wilmore in September this year.
The NYP report quoted an official as saying that Boeing was “convinced” that Starliner was in a condition to bring the two back, but NASA said it was “too risky”.
“The thinking around here was that Boeing was being wildly irresponsible,” an official was quoted as saying in the report.
This means that the expedition, which was meant to be a week-long, will now stretch up to at least eight months. The due went to the International Space Station in June this year on an eight-day voyage.
They were stranded when some helium leaks were discovered on the Starliner. Reports say that they were already aware of the leaks, but they were more in number that anticipated.
Now, the two astronauts are likely to be brought back by a SpaceX taxi flight that will likely launch in late September.
Notably, Boeing had received $4.2 billion from NASA to make the transportation capsule to take six astronauts to the ISS. It failed in its first voyage.
On the other hand, Elon Musk’s SpaceX was given $2.6 billion and has already completed nine flights in its Crew Dragon capsule. This will be its tenth mission.
Boeing has already been facing safety issues in its aeroplane business. After NASA’s announcement, Boeing said it “continues to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft”.
“We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return,” the statement said.