On June 5th, 2024 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore boarded Boeing’s first spacecraft, the Starliner. They were expected to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) and return within 10 days. However, due to thruster issues and a helium leak, Boeing -along with NASA- deemed Starliner too dangerous to return to earth with the astronauts onboard.
Fortunately, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX was sending the Space Dragon Crew-9 to the Space station on August 18th and was willing to make changes. This meant going from 4 astronauts during launch to 2: Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov. Making this change created room for Williams and Wilmore on the return. The only issue was this left them in space for another 7 months with a return date of February, 2025.
While one might think Williams and Wilmore would be frustrated with their situation, they had a surprisingly positive attitude and were grateful to have more time in space joining Crew-9. At a press conference from the ISS Willaims said, “We’re here with our friend…We’re looking forward to the next couple of months.” It should be noted that even though Williams and Wilmore were only planning for a short mission, their extensive training prepared them for any eventuality.
As with all missions, NASA has carefully mapped out how astronauts will spend each and every day. This left no time for Williams and Wilmore to think about how things could have been different. During their mission with Space Dragon Crew-9 they will conduct several planned experiments. According to NASA, “The Crew-9 members will conduct more than 200 science investigations involving blood clotting studies, moisture effects on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts.” With the environmental change in space, researchers hope to find how space affects the large cells (platelets and megakaryocytes) in bone marrow. This research can be useful for information about how one’s blood clots along with immune responses. In addition to the astronauts’ experiments they will conduct a moonwalk where they will repair a telescope attached to the exterior of the space station.
What began as a disappointment for Boeing’s Starliner and the 2 astronauts involved turned out to be a win for Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
From Tesla to SpaceX to other innovative projects Elon Musk has once again proven himself to be an agent of change in the modern world. He not only created a successful vehicle to round trip to and from the International Space Station but in this case the vehicle was also able to rescue Williams and Gilmore. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmores positive attitudes combined with Elon Musk’s creative genius, will no doubt make this a successful mission.
