--- title: NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid... description: NASA is evaluating Boeing's Starliner spacecraft after recent technical issues, opting to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams via SpaceX's... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid Starliner Issues | daily.dev og:description: NASA is evaluating Boeing's Starliner spacecraft after recent technical issues, opting to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams via SpaceX's... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/HZlII9II8.png og:image:alt: NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid Starliner Issues og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid Starliner Issues **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary NASA is evaluating Boeing's Starliner spacecraft after recent technical issues, opting to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams via SpaceX's Dragon. The uncrewed Starliner will undergo further testing to ensure safety and performance, highlighting NASA's effort to develop multiple reliable crew transport options despite current setbacks. ## Content # NASA Evaluates Starliner for Future Missions While Planning Astronaut Return on SpaceX's Dragon Next Year NASA is set to make a critical decision about the future of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in light of recent technical challenges. Initially, NASA aimed to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth aboard the Starliner. However, due to significant issues encountered during its mission—including thruster failures and helium leaks—the agency has decided to return the uncrewed Starliner to Earth for additional testing and analysis. NASA and Boeing have been diligently working to address these malfunctions, conducting extensive assessments to ensure the spacecraft meets all safety and performance requirements for upcoming missions. Although these issues pose a setback, the return of the uncrewed Starliner can provide valuable data to facilitate its eventual certification for regular astronaut transport. Given the current situation, NASA has opted to bring Wilmore and Williams home aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Originally slated for a short eight-day mission, the astronauts will now stay on the International Space Station (ISS) until February and return on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which lifted off in late September. This decision not only prioritizes astronaut safety but also underscores NASA's confidence in SpaceX's operational reliability during this interim period. While the delays and technical challenges faced by Boeing's Starliner may look unfavorable compared to SpaceX's successful missions, NASA remains committed to developing multiple reliable means of crew transportation. The upcoming recovery of the Starliner and the continued testing efforts may eventually pave the way for its certification and more robust participation in NASA's crewed space missions. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Don’t just attend KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon, Merge Forward your experience\!](https://daily.dev/posts/don-t-just-attend-kubecon-cloudnativecon-merge-forward-your-experience--l0rpp73x8) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing H2 2026 KCDs](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-h2-2026-kcds-m96goajm1) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two months of Open Community Groups](https://daily.dev/posts/two-months-of-open-community-groups-asf52zhbs) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Unveils Schedule for KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Europe 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-unveils-schedule-for-kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe-2026-ikhcoa5cb) · CNCF · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Debuts KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Japan 2026 Schedule](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-debuts-kubecon-cloudnativecon-japan-2026-schedule-xp5pyudub) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#nasa](https://daily.dev/tags/nasa), [#spacex](https://daily.dev/tags/spacex) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid Starliner Issues","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8"},"datePublished":"2024-08-24T17:37:51.360Z","dateModified":"2024-08-24T20:31:23.284Z","description":"NASA is evaluating Boeing's Starliner spacecraft after recent technical issues, opting to return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams via SpaceX's...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6666cb9df33e6c87dde7d759f2df7bd5?_a=AQAEuiZ","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/6666cb9df33e6c87dde7d759f2df7bd5?_a=AQAEuiZ","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Collections","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Collections","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--fk_6ycEi--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780996001/logos/collections?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/nasa-updates-on-astronaut-return-mission-plans-amid-starliner-issues-hzlii9ii8","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"nasa,spacex","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Collections","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/collections"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"NASA Updates on Astronaut Return Mission Plans Amid Starliner Issues"}]} ```