The short answer is yes—but it took a whole lot longer than anyone expected. If you've been following the news over the last several months, you know the situation with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams turned into one of the most bizarre chapters in modern spaceflight. They went up for an eight-day "test drive" and ended up staying for the better part of a year. It’s wild.
Imagine packing a small suitcase for a weekend trip to a beach house and then being told you’re stuck there until next spring. That is basically what happened to the Starliner crew. They launched on June 5, 2024, on Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. It was supposed to be the final feather in Boeing's cap, proving they could reliably ferry humans to the International Space Station (ISS) just like SpaceX does. Instead, the propulsion system started acting up. Helium leaks sprouted like weeds. Thrusters failed during the docking sequence.
NASA eventually had to make a gut-wrenching call. They decided the Boeing ship was too risky to bring the humans back. So, did they get the astronauts out of space? They did, but not on the ride they took to get there. The Starliner returned to Earth empty in September 2024, landing in New Mexico while Butch and Suni watched from the window of the ISS, knowing their ride home was gone.
The Long Wait for a SpaceX Uber
The logistics of "getting them out" wasn't as simple as just sending up another rocket the next day. Space travel is scheduled years in advance. You can’t just "call an Uber" when you’re 250 miles above the planet. NASA had to wait for the next scheduled SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
But there was a problem. The Crew-9 Dragon capsule usually carries four people. To bring Butch and Suni back, NASA had to kick two other astronauts off the mission to save seats. Imagine being Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, the two guys who actually stayed on the mission, and having to leave your colleagues behind on Earth to make room for the "stranded" duo. That’s exactly what happened. The Crew-9 mission finally launched in late September 2024 with two empty seats reserved for the Starliner crew's return.
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Why Boeing’s Starliner Failed the Test
You might wonder why NASA was so scared to just put them back on the Boeing craft. It comes down to the thrusters. During the approach to the ISS, five of the Starliner’s 28 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters failed. While they managed to get four back online, NASA engineers couldn't figure out why they failed in the first place.
They did tests on the ground at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. They pushed those engines to the limit. They found that a small Teflon seal was heating up, bulging, and choking off the fuel flow. Since they couldn't be 100% sure the thrusters wouldn't quit during the deorbit burn—the most critical moment of the trip—they chose the "safety first" route.
It was a massive blow to Boeing’s reputation. Honestly, it was embarrassing. SpaceX, the "new kid" on the block, had to bail out the legacy aerospace giant.
Life on the ISS for the "Accidental" Residents
Butch and Suni aren't rookies. They are seasoned Navy captains. They didn't just sit around twiddling their thumbs or staring out the Cupola window all day. The ISS is basically a giant, high-tech laboratory that requires constant maintenance.
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- They integrated into the Expedition 71 and 72 crews.
- They performed science experiments that were originally assigned to others.
- They helped manage the "plumbing" of the station—which, yes, involves fixing the urine processing assembly.
- They participated in public outreach and even voted in the 2024 U.S. election from orbit.
While people on Earth were worried about them, they seemed relatively chill. Space is their job. They've both spent hundreds of days in orbit before this. Still, missing Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s with your family because your car broke down in low Earth orbit is a tough pill to swallow.
The Return Journey and What We Learned
The actual "getting out" part happened in early 2025. The SpaceX Dragon Freedom capsule, which arrived as the Crew-9 mission, served as their lifeboat. When it came time to descend, the process was standard but tense. They undocked, performed the deorbit burn, and splashed down off the coast of Florida.
Seeing them walk out of the recovery ship was a relief for NASA, but it left behind a mountain of paperwork and a lot of hard questions for Boeing. Can the Starliner be fixed? Will NASA ever let humans fly on it again?
As of now, the Starliner program is in a state of "deep reflection," which is corporate-speak for "we have a lot of expensive fixing to do." NASA still wants two different companies to be able to reach the ISS. They don't want to be solely dependent on Elon Musk's SpaceX. But after this debacle, the path forward for Boeing is murky at best.
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Misconceptions About the Rescue
A lot of people think they were "stranded" in a way that meant they were in danger. That’s not quite right. They were never in immediate peril. The ISS has plenty of food, oxygen, and supplies. It’s more like being stuck at an airport hotel because your flight was canceled. It’s annoying, it’s a logistics nightmare, but you aren't starving.
Another myth is that Boeing fought NASA to bring them down on Starliner. While Boeing's engineers were confident in their ship, the final decision belonged to NASA's leadership, specifically Ken Bowersox and Steve Stich. They chose the "low-risk" path. In the post-Challenger and post-Columbia era, NASA doesn't take "maybe" for an answer when it comes to heat shields and thrusters.
What's Next for Commercial Spaceflight?
The saga of getting the astronauts out of space has changed the timeline for the ISS. We are now looking at a world where SpaceX is the undisputed king of the hill, at least for the moment. Blue Origin and other players are watching closely.
If you're curious about the future of these missions, watch the upcoming "Post-Certification Mission" reports. NASA will eventually decide if Starliner needs another uncrewed test flight or if they can skip straight to a crewed "fix-it" mission.
Actionable Insights for Space Enthusiasts:
- Track the Crew-10 Schedule: Now that the backlog from the Starliner delay is clearing, NASA is reshuffling the 2025-2026 launch manifests.
- Monitor Boeing’s Financial Disclosures: If you want to know if Starliner survives, watch Boeing's quarterly earnings. They've already taken over $1.5 billion in losses on this program.
- Check the ISS Live Stream: You can often see the current docked configuration of the station. It looks a lot different now than it did during the summer of 2024.
- Follow the Thruster Redesign: The technical "fix" for those Teflon seals will be the most important engineering document in aerospace this year.
The ordeal is over, but the lessons are just starting to be processed. Space is hard. Even when you think you've mastered it, a tiny piece of plastic or a small helium leak can change everything.