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NASA Extends Boeing Starliner Astronauts’ Space Station Stay to 2025

Persistent concerns with the vehicle’s propulsion systems mean Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return home next year in a SpaceX vehicle.

Two astronauts who have spent months aboard the International Space Station will have to stay there months longer after NASA decided on Saturday that they could not return on Boeing’s troubled Starliner space vehicle. They will return instead on a SpaceX capsule next year.

That decision finally brings clarity to the saga of the two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who docked at the space station as part of a test flight of the Boeing vehicle. It also extends months of difficult problems experienced by Boeing, a dominant aerospace company that has faced embarrassing setbacks in its much larger civilian aviation and defense divisions this year.

“A test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine,” Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said during a news conference, “and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.”

“There’s always a possibility that they could be up there much longer than they anticipate,” Mr. Knight said. “So the families understand that. I’m not saying it’s not hard. It is hard.”

The members of the Starliner crew were supposed to have stayed at the I.S.S. for as little as eight days. Problems almost inevitably pop up during test flights. This test flight was the first with people aboard the Starliner spacecraft, so it was not a surprise that their stay stretched out a couple of weeks.

But even after lengthy analysis and ground testing, engineers still could not say with certainty why several of Starliner’s thrusters had malfunctioned before the capsule and the astronauts docked with the space station in June.

“That risk was due to the uncertainties, due to the inability to predict with certainty that thruster performance for the rest of the mission,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program.

For the flight back, the key maneuver is an engine burn by larger thrusters that leads to the spacecraft dropping out of orbit. The smaller thrusters, including the ones that malfunctioned earlier, are used to keep the spacecraft pointed in the correct direction.

Analysis of the data showed that the firing of the larger thrusters also heated up the smaller thrusters, potentially causing more problems.

“These clusters have experienced more stress, more heating,” Mr. Stich said, “and so there’s a little bit more concern for how they would perform during the deorbit burn, holding the orientation of the vehicle, and then also the maneuvers required after that.”

That lingering uncertainty spurred unease and led NASA leaders to decide they should not risk the lives of Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore on Starliner. Instead they elected to rely on a different spacecraft — the Crew Dragon, built by SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk — for the return trip.

“The polling was unanimous amongst all the NASA folks,” said Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator for NASA’s space operations mission directorate.

Mr. Bowersox and Mr. Stich conceded that Boeing engineers and officials had disagreed about the risk. Boeing thought it had demonstrated that Starliner was safe enough for Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore to return home on.

“I would say that we’ve had a lot of tense discussions,” Mr. Bowersox said.

No one from Boeing took part in the news conference, but Mark Nappi, the Boeing official in charge of the Starliner program at Boeing, told his team in an email, “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.”

Starliner will undock and return to Earth in early September without anyone aboard. The next launch of a SpaceX Crew Dragon is scheduled for no earlier than Sept. 24.

Los momentos memorables de París 2024

Éxito y fracaso. Alegría y agonía. Oro, plata y bronce.

Los Juegos Olímpicos siempre girarán en torno a quién ganó y quién perdió, a qué altura, a qué velocidad y a qué distancia. Sin embargo, los Juegos se quedan en nuestra memoria mucho después de terminar gracias a aquellos momentos que en ocasiones tienen poco que ver con las competiciones en sí.

No hace falta una medalla para dejar un recuerdo imborrable en los Juegos Olímpicos.

Jordan Chiles y Simone Biles idearon el plan. Ambas habían querido estar en el escalón más alto del podio tras la última prueba de la competición de gimnasia femenina, los ejercicios de suelo. Pero Biles, la favorita, había cometido algunos errores y Chiles había cometido algunos más, por lo que se convirtieron en los flancos de la verdadera cabeza de cartel: Rebeca Andrade, de Brasil. Y así se urdió un plan.

Después de que Chiles aceptara su medalla de bronce y Biles la de plata, Andrade fue presentada como campeona olímpica. Cuando se acercó al podio —que completaba el primer podio conformado enteramente por atletas negras de la historia de la gimnasia olímpica—, Biles y Chiles se giraron hacia Andrade, se arrodillaron e hicieron una reverencia. Después, la llamaron reina. 

Después de que Bobby Finke ganara los 1500 m estilo libre en un tiempo récord mundial —y conservara con ello la racha de 120 años de los hombres estadounidenses de ganar al menos una medalla de oro en natación individual en los Juegos Olímpicos—, las cámaras de la NBC enfocaron a una aficionada especialmente emocionada, la cual gritaba, apretaba los puños y hacía sonar su cencerro.

La aficionada se llama Katie Ledecky. Y durante un momento de éxtasis, la nadadora femenina más laureada de la historia pareció quedarse sin aliento. Ledecky había ganado su propio oro en esa distancia cuatro días antes. Esa noche, dijo que pensar en sus compañeros de entrenamiento, como Finke, había sido una de las cosas que la habían ayudado a salir adelante.

Por eso, cuando acudió a animarle cuatro días después, Ledecky no fue solo una medallista olímpica con 14 preseas, sino la amiga y compañera de equipo que lleva un cencerro y celebra sus éxitos con más fervor que los suyos propios. 

WHY I DON'T KILL INSECTS 

A. Santiago / website visitor

My daughter has begged me not to write this story. She says I’ll embarrass myself and readers will think I’m nuts.

But I must do this — if only for the bugs.

If a big fat fly is buzzing around my home, I don’t grab my tennis racket, whack it and sweep up the remains. I wait until the insect lands, kneel beside it and stick out my finger.

This part will surprise most people. The fly will not fly away. Most times, the bug will crawl onto my finger and sit there as I walk it outside. Only then will it fly away.

Likewise, if I find a spider in my house — even big scary hairy ones — I grab a glass. If you attempt to cover a spider with a glass, it won’t scurry off. It will freeze. You can then slip paper between the glass and surface and deposit the spider outside.

Just this morning, I found a tiny spider, no bigger than a pepper flake, in my sink. I put out my finger and it climbed aboard. I walked outside and let it crawl onto a leaf.

My family calls me the Insect Whisperer. They say it like a joke but I think it’s real.

Humans and wildlife depend on insects for food. A third of food crops are pollinated by insects, as are most of the earth's plants.

Bottom line, I'm grateful for what the insects do for us. They deserve to live so we can live too 👍 

Becky G Announces New ‘Casa Gomez: Otro Capítulo Tour’ – Here Are the Dates

Becky G is going back on tour! Following her first headlining tour last year, the Mexican-American singer announced her new “Casa Gomez: Otro Capítulo Tour.” The highly anticipated tour will start at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL, on Oct. 11 and wrap up at the Gallagher Square at Petco Park in San Diego, CA, on Nov. 17.

The cities selected for the tour have big Mexican-American communities. The “Casa Gomez: Otro Capítulo Tour” will pay tribute to her Mexican culture, with a setlist primarily featuring her música mexicana album ESQUINA 2023. After starting in Chicago, the singer will perform at The Rave / Eagles Club in Milwaukee, WI (Oct. 12); the Everwise Amphitheater in Indianapolis, IN (Oct. 13); the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA (Oct. 18); the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, NC (Oct. 19); and the Mershon Auditorium in Columbus, OH (Oct. 20).

The “POR EL CONTRARIO” singer will continue her tour at the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, TX (Oct. 24); La Hacienda in Midland, TX (Oct. 25); the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, AZ (Oct. 27); the Payne Arena in Hidalgo, TX (Oct. 31); and the 713 Music Hall in Houston, TX (Nov. 1). Her last string of shows will be at the Toyota Music Factory in Dallas, TX (Nov. 2); the Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA (Nov. 16); and at the Gallagher Square at Petco Park in San Diego, CA (Nov. 17).

Moreover, Becky partnered with Save The Music Foundation (STM) to help fair access to music education for millions of students in the U.S. One dollar of all ticket sales will go to STM.

Pre-sale tickets for the tour will go on sale on Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. local time. Fans can sign up now for a presale code. General tickets and VIP packages will go on sale Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. local time via the artist’s official website. 

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July 22nd, 2024