WASHINGTON: NASA acknowledged that there was “tension” during meetings with Boeing executives regarding the plan to rescue two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station, but it refuted claims of shouting matches.
The US space agency is now relying on SpaceX for the rescue mission due to safety concerns with Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which experienced thruster malfunctions and helium leaks en route to the space station. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched in June for a stay initially planned to last about a week, are now expected to remain on the station until February 2025 when the SpaceX Crew-9 mission is scheduled to return.
Despite Boeing’s public assurances about the reliability of their spacecraft, the absence of its executives from recent NASA press briefings had sparked speculation about potential discord. Reports, including those from the New York Post, suggested that meetings between NASA and Boeing often escalated into heated arguments.
Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, addressed these claims by noting that “anytime you’re in a meeting of this magnitude where significant decisions are being made, some tension is expected.” He elaborated that while Boeing was confident in its thruster degradation model, NASA remained concerned due to uncertainties in the modeling.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a yelling or screaming situation,” Stich clarified to reporters. “It was a tense technical discussion, with both sides carefully reviewing all the data.”
