Boeing’s public relations crisis is now out of this world: the company’s Starliner spacecraft with two astronauts onboard – are currently stuck in space.
After what started as an eight-day mission, US astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore have now spent the better part of a month in the International Space Station as engineers work out the problems with Starliner.
It remains unclear when exactly the astronauts will be able to make their return to Earth. A Boeing spokesperson said they have “adjusted the return of Starliner crew flight test until after two planned spacewalks on Monday 24 June and Tuesday 2 July” and that they “currently do not have a date for the return, and will evaluate opportunities after the spacewalks”.
The spokesperson also noted “the crew is not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station’s schedule is relatively open through mid-August”.