Two NASA astronauts have finally revealed the terrifying truth behind their near-catastrophic experience onboard the Boeing Starliner, admitting they almost didn’t make it back home.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were only supposed to spend eight days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) last June.
Instead, a major malfunction left them stranded in orbit for 286 days, leading to a tense and uncertain 9 months.
Right from the start, they say the Starliner faced issues.
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As the capsule approached the ISS, Wilmore had to take manual control—but then, things went from bad to worse. Four thrusters failed, meaning they had no way to properly steer the spacecraft.
With flight regulations requiring them to return to Earth if something went wrong, Wilmore was hit with a realisation, asking himself what would happen if they couldn’t get back at all.
Talking to Arstechnica, Wilmore admitted: “I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point”.
“And matter of fact, I’m thinking we probably can't", he added.
Williams described how they were both communicating without words, trying to process the chaos unfolding around them. They had no idea why the thrusters were failing or what their next move should be.
Wilmore had a challenging decision to make, deciding between attempting to fly back to Earth or risk docking at the ISS with a failing spacecraft. On top of that, the Starliner’s vision system, which helps with navigation, had also started to drift off-course.
Wilmore explained: “If you’re below the station, you’re moving faster. That’s orbital mechanics".
“It’s going to make you move away from the station,” he added further.
If things had spiralled further out of control, an automatic system would have aborted the mission entirely—potentially leaving them stranded in space.
With few options left, NASA made the risky call to reboot the thrusters remotely. But to make it work, Wilmore had to completely surrender control of the spacecraft, leaving himself and Williams floating helplessly in space.
“That was not easy to do,” said Wilmore.
Luckily, the system reset worked, and Starliner was able to dock successfully with the ISS. Williams was so relieved, she did a “little happy dance” once they were inside.
Even after making it to safety, Wilmore knew they probably wouldn’t be able to use Starliner for the journey back.
“I was thinking, we might not come home in the spacecraft. We might not,” he said.
He immediately called Vincent LaCourt, the ISS flight director, to discuss whether Starliner could even serve as a “safe haven” for them.
In the end, Wilmore and Williams made it back to Earth, but their ordeal raises serious questions about the reliability of Boeing’s Starliner—and just how close NASA came to disaster.