We have had mistakes in the past,
A couple years ago, we made the decision — knowing that this was a test flight — to make sure that we had the right resources, supplies and training for the crew, just in case they needed to be on ISS, for whatever reason, for a longer period of time,
No one has had to go on a diet or calorie restriction,
We need to bring those folks home and get back to a normal crew size on the ISS,
While they’re up there, we have extra crew, we have extra hands, and they can do a lot more work. But they’re also using up more consumables, more supplies,
This flight is a dream for her,
We do like to keep our options open so we do have some items such as clothes … some personal food items for (Williams and Wilmore), things like that,
Butch and Suni are fully trained,
After extensive review by experts across the agency, NASA's @BoeingSpace Crew Flight Test will return with an uncrewed #Starliner. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are scheduled to return to Earth next spring aboard."
Hardly anyone knows that there was a massive effort to block SpaceX from providing astronaut transport for NASA".
Decisions like this are never easy, but I want to commend our NASA and Boeing teams for their thorough analysis, transparent discussions, and focus on safety during the Crew Flight Test,
I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work,
I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to carry out the action's necessary to support NASA's decision,
The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew,
The NASA and Boeing teams have completed a tremendous amount of testing and analysis, and this flight test is providing critical information on Starliner's performance in space. Our efforts will help prepare for the uncrewed return and will greatly benefit future corrective actions for the spacecraft,
Space flight is risky even at its safest and even at its most routine,
Starliner is a very capable spacecraft and, ultimately, this comes down to needing a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return,
NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters,
The uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence does not meet the agency's safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight, thus prompting NASA leadership to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission,
Boeing continues to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft. We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.”