Starliner Crew Accepts Blame, Supports Future Boeing Missions \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, recently returned from a prolonged ISS mission, say they partly blame themselves for Boeing Starliner’s troubled test flight. Despite thruster failures and helium leaks, they support the spacecraft and are eager to fly it again. NASA is still investigating, with another test possible by year’s end.
NASA’s Starliner Test Flight: Quick Looks
- Astronauts Wilmore and Williams accept partial blame for Starliner issues
- Their ISS stay lasted 286 days — 278 longer than planned
- SpaceX brought them home after NASA deemed Starliner unsafe
- Thruster malfunctions and helium leaks plagued the Boeing capsule
- Wilmore said he could’ve asked key questions earlier
- Both astronauts remain confident in Starliner’s future capabilities
- NASA may require another cargo test before human flights resume
- Starliner’s success crucial as ISS retirement nears in 2030
- Crew to meet with Boeing leadership for post-mission debrief
- SpaceX praised for safe splashdown after extended mission delay
Deep Look
After enduring an unexpected 286 days in space—more than nine times longer than originally planned—NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are back on Earth and reflecting on the dramatic, problem-plagued mission that turned their Boeing Starliner test flight into an orbital marathon. Despite technical failures, delays, and a politically charged rescue, both astronauts are owning the outcome and doubling down on their belief in Starliner’s future.
The pair launched aboard Boeing’s first crewed Starliner flight on June 5, 2023, for what was intended to be a short-duration test. Their mission was simple: validate Starliner’s readiness to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) as part of NASA’s commercial crew program. But soon after launch, the mission took an unexpected turn.
Starliner encountered multiple technical problems, including thruster failures and helium leaks. These issues forced Wilmore and Williams—both experienced test pilots and former Navy captains—to manually intervene to get the capsule safely docked with the ISS. Initially, engineers hoped the problems could be resolved quickly, allowing the astronauts to return in the same spacecraft. But as days turned into weeks, and then months, NASA determined the capsule could not guarantee a safe return.
Instead, after exhaustive engineering reviews and failed attempts to greenlight a solution, NASA made the decision to use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon to bring the astronauts home. That return happened earlier this month, with a smooth splashdown off the coast of Florida—marking the end of one of the most extended and dramatic missions in modern spaceflight history.
Speaking at their first press conference since landing, Wilmore and Williams were remarkably candid. They did not deflect blame, instead acknowledging the complexity of human spaceflight and their own roles in the process.
“I’ll start and point the finger and I’ll blame me,” Wilmore told reporters. “I could have asked some questions, and the answers to those questions could have turned the tide.” He stressed that accountability is shared across the mission team: “We all are responsible. We all own this.”
Williams, equally pragmatic, emphasized the capability and promise of the Starliner spacecraft despite the issues. “We’re all in,” she said. “This spacecraft has a lot of potential, and we’re going to fix the problems we encountered.”
The astronauts, far from disillusioned, expressed a desire to fly aboard Starliner again, viewing the troubled test flight as an opportunity to learn, adapt, and improve. “We’re going to rectify all the issues,” Wilmore said. “I’d go back in a heartbeat.”
Their optimism will be put into action this week, as they meet with Boeing leadership for a full post-flight debrief. According to Wilmore, the meeting isn’t about “pointing fingers,” but about making “the path clearer going forward.” Boeing engineers and NASA officials will use feedback from the astronauts to evaluate what went wrong, and how to prevent similar issues in future flights.
In the meantime, NASA has not yet identified the root cause of the thruster failures or helium leaks that grounded the capsule. Extensive testing is planned throughout the summer to better understand the system’s vulnerabilities. If those tests yield clear results, NASA may approve a cargo-only Starliner test flight before allowing humans to board again—a decision that could be made later this year.
The high-profile failure couldn’t have come at a more critical time. Boeing’s Starliner was developed alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to ensure redundant American access to low-Earth orbit. While SpaceX has launched astronauts to the ISS with consistency and reliability since 2020, Boeing has struggled to catch up. The first Starliner test flight in 2019 failed to reach the space station at all due to software issues. A second test flight in 2022 was only marginally more successful. The 2023 crewed mission was supposed to be Starliner’s turning point—but instead it exposed deeper concerns about system reliability.
Despite these setbacks, NASA continues to support the dual-provider model, which offers both competitive and strategic advantages. The agency doesn’t want to rely on a single provider—especially with the ISS scheduled for deorbit in 2030 and commercial space stations set to take its place. Ensuring Starliner is safe and ready before the end of the ISS era remains a priority.
For Wilmore and Williams, the mission was personally and physically demanding. Prolonged stays in microgravity take a toll on the human body, including muscle atrophy, balance issues, and bone loss. Williams described needing a day to stabilize before reuniting with her two dogs—an emotional homecoming she called “pure joy.”
Wilmore joked that his post-space duties are now firmly grounded: “My wife wants to replace all the shrubs before summer, so I’ve got to get my body ready to dig holes.” The astronaut-turned-gardener plans to gradually rebuild his strength after nearly 10 months of weightlessness.
While some might call the mission a failure, Wilmore and Williams see it differently. As test pilots, they understand that pushing new technology to its limits is part of the job—and setbacks are often the cost of progress. “We were doing our job,” Wilmore said. “Sometimes that job means things don’t go as planned.”
In the end, the Starliner saga is not just about engineering failures or bureaucratic delays—it’s about resilience, adaptation, and accountability. The astronauts’ willingness to take ownership, support the program, and push forward speaks volumes about NASA’s culture and the human spirit of exploration.
The future of Starliner—and Boeing’s role in America’s space ambitions—remains uncertain. But with astronauts like Wilmore and Williams leading the charge, the next chapter of human spaceflight promises to be both smarter and stronger.
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