Will NASA send Boeing's Starliner spacecraft back empty? Here are the details
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams found themselves stranded in orbit. Technical issues with Boeing's Starliner spaceship have caused an indefinite delay in their return, despite the fact that their mission was only scheduled to last two weeks. There isn't a new return date announced by NASA, as per the reports of Yahoo news.
NASA is currently thinking of returning the Starliner spaceship to Earth without the astronauts on board. According to CNBC, there hasn't been much consensus on this proposal yet. To return the astronauts home, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule would be sent. Although it was developed at a lower cost than Starliner, the Crew Dragon is a part of the same Commercial Crew program and has not encountered any problems of the same nature.
Possible consequences
NASA would be showing a serious lack of confidence in Boeing's Starliner if they decided to return the spaceship empty. Additionally, considering the previous history of Starliner delays and technical issues, this would pose a serious public relations challenge for both Boeing and NASA. Even still, NASA and Boeing have committed $6.7 billion to the project since 2010, so they are unlikely to give up on it quickly.
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NASA has minimized the seriousness of Boeing's problems throughout the last two months. The astronauts were not stranded, according to NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich's statement in late June. During docking in
