The Starliner Saga: A Troubled Mission Comes to an End

The Starliner saga is nearing its conclusion with the planned return of the crew later this month, but the controversy surrounding the mission persists. Following statements by Donald Trump that falsely claimed the Starliner crew was abandoned by the previous administration, the two astronauts have refrained from politicizing the botched mission.

Politicization of the Mission

During a live broadcast from the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore addressed recent attempts by Trump and his billionaire friend Elon Musk to politicize the Starliner mission. "The words they said, well, that’s politics. I mean, that’s part of life," Wilmore told reporters. "From my standpoint, politics has not played into this at all." NASA astronauts Wilmore and Suni Williams launched to the ISS on board Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on June 5, 2024. The mission was originally slotted for eight days in space but issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters forced NASA to return an empty Starliner back from the ISS, deeming it unsafe to transport the crew to Earth.

The Mission’s Challenges

Instead, Williams and Wilmore are set to come home on board a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft later this month. Shortly after taking office, Trump decided to claim that he is working on a rescue mission for the two astronauts. Trump announced that he had asked SpaceX founder and CEO Musk to "go get the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration," he wrote on Truth Social. However, the two astronauts were not abandoned, nor were they in need of an expedited rescue mission. By that point, NASA had already agreed upon a plan to return Williams and Wilmore.

NASA’s Plan

In September 2024, NASA launched its Crew-9 mission with two astronauts instead of four. The two empty seats were reserved for Williams and Wilmore, who were set to return alongside the Crew-9 astronauts in February. The plan did face some trouble, though, as technical issues delayed the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission, postponing the crew handover. That meant that Crew-9, alongside Williams and Wilmore, would not be able to depart the ISS until Crew-10 is on the space station sometime in April. Following Trump’s comments, NASA ended up switching the SpaceX crew spacecraft to bring the two Starliner astronauts back later this month.

Trump and Musk’s Claims

In an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, broadcast last month, Trump and Musk doubled down on their false claims. Musk told Hannity that SpaceX is "accelerating the return of the astronauts," who were "left up there for political reasons." Musk also claimed, without presenting any evidence, that he had offered the Biden administration a plan to bring the two Starliner astronauts back sooner, without waiting for the Crew-9 mission to return from the ISS. During the recent presser aboard the ISS, Wilmore wasn’t able to confirm Musk’s claim, admitting he has "no information about that whatsoever."

Astronauts’ Response

"I believe him," Wilmore added during the live broadcast. "I don’t know all those details and I don’t think any of us can give you the answer." The astronauts downplayed their extended stay on the ISS due to the faulty spacecraft, claiming that it’s all part of the job. "We came up prepared to stay long, even though we planned to stay short," Wilmore said. Williams, on the other hand, did admit that the extra months in space did have a toll on people on Earth. "I think the hardest part is having the folks on the ground have to not know exactly when we’re coming back…all of that uncertainty, I think, is probably the most difficult part," Williams told reporters on Tuesday.

Conclusion

Starliner’s first crewed test flight to the ISS has suffered some unfortunate events since its launch, and the latest controversy surrounding the mission is very much on brand. The crew’s return later this month marks the end of a troubled mission, but the controversy surrounding it will likely persist.