NASA MEDIA TELECON WITH STARLINER, CREW-9 UPDATE, Aug 7, 2024, virtual, 12:30 pm ET

NASA will hold a media telecon on August 7, 2024 at 12:30 pm ET to provide an update on ISS operations, the Starliner Crew Flight Test, and the next crew rotation mission, Crew-9.

Audio will air on NASA’s website.

Participants are:

• Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program
• Dana Weigel, manager, International Space Station Program

NASA is expected to announce they are delaying the launch of Crew-9 until at least September 24 as NASA and Boeing continue to analyze the status of Boeing’s Starliner capsule. Crew-9 was to launch as early as August 18, but at least before a Russian Soyuz crew exchange on September 11.

The Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) crew, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, arrived at the ISS on June 6 and were supposed to stay for 8 days, but thruster malfunctions and helium leaks occurred during the one-day trip from the launch pad to ISS. Their stay aboard the ISS has been repeatedly extended as tests take place on the ground and in space. The agency apparently is not ready to commit to bringing them back to Earth on Starliner. An option is to launch the next crew exchange on a SpaceX Crew Dragon with only two people instead of four and have Butch and Suni return on a Crew Dragon instead.  Whether or not NASA will do that hopefully will be answered during this telecon.