After a nine-month ordeal, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally returned to Earth on Tuesday after the failed Boeing Crew Test Flight left them stranded on the International Space Station. The NASA SpaceX Crew-9 splashdown off Florida’s Gulf Coast had a unique group of spectators: A pod of dolphins. Maybe our aquatic friends were trying to tell the astronauts they shouldn’t have returned to Earth.
As the charred Crew Dragon capsule bobbed around in the ocean, dolphins swam up to the spacecraft and the recovery team. NASA’s Johnson Space Center shared footage of the maritime encounter on social media. Admittedly, the conditions on the ocean were picturesque, with a clear blue sky and calm waters. It was the perfect welcome for anyone who had been stuck in a set of small metal tubes floating in a black void.
Astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov didn’t have as long of a wait to see Earth again. The duo launched with the Crew-9 mission in late September last year. Two other astronauts were benched for the mission to leave a pair of seats empty to accommodate the return of Wilmore and Williams.
The Starliner might need yet another test flight
If you’re wondering if the Boeing Starliner rescue mission launched last year, how did Joe Biden abandon Wilmore and Williams, as Elon Musk and Donald Trump claim? The rocket-exploding White House squatter blustered his way through a Fox News interview, saying that he offered President Biden an emergency rescue mission and the offer was rejected for political reasons. The Starliner crew and NASA’s then-administrator said they had never heard of said offer.
The picturesque return isn’t enough to distract from the future of the Boeing Starliner program. The troubled spacecraft still isn’t certified to fly NASA missions to the ISS with its thruster issues. NASA is considering requiring a third uncrewed test flight for Starliner. It might not be worth it for Boeing to fly another test flight for certification, especially as the International Space Station, the Starliner’s only possible destination, approaches the end of its service life. The aerospace giant is preparing for mass layoffs in its Artemis rocket program and openly considered selling the entire space division late last year. The aerospace giant is preparing for mass layoffs in its Artemis rocket program and openly considered selling the entire space division late last year.
