Williams and Wilmore “is the result of our commitment to safety,” as “our core value is safety.”
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, two NASA astronauts, arrived at the International Space Station on 5 June on Boeing's Starliner spaceship. They are expected to stay there until February 2025, when SpaceX is scheduled to bring them back to Earth.
They both were scheduled to return to Earth in the same spacecraft in 8-10 days. However, their arrival was delayed and they remained stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) following helium leaks and thruster issues.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson declared that while Starliner will return without crew, the two will come back to Earth in February aboard a SpaceX capsule.
Nelson informed reporters that “space flight is risky even at its safest and even at its most routine.”
On being asked about the decision to keep them on the ISS, he said the move to return the Starliner without Williams and Wilmore “is the result of our commitment to safety,” as “our core value is safety.”
