NASA expects to make a final decision by the end of the month regarding when and how to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station for more than two months.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in early June, on a journey that was supposed to last just over a week. But several problems were discovered as the vehicle moved toward the orbital station, forcing the pair to remain in space much longer than expected.
NASA officials said Wednesday that engineers and technical experts are reviewing weeks of test data and weighing options for returning the astronauts to Earth.
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA's Mission Directorate, said they will likely complete their analysis next week, followed by a formal review “sometime late next week, possibly early next week.”
NASA is deciding whether to send Wilmore and Williams back aboard the crashed Starliner or instead use one of SpaceX's Dragon capsules to bring them home.
If the agency decides to assign the return flight to SpaceX, Wilmore and Williams will have to remain on the space station for another six months.
A SpaceX Dragon capsule is scheduled to launch new crew members to the orbiting station in September on a mission known as Crew-9. NASA has said it may change those plans to send two astronauts instead of the originally planned four, and then use the empty seats to bring Wilmore and Williams home at the end of the Crew-9 mission in February.
In this case, the Starliner capsule will return to Earth without a crew, according to NASA.
Bowersox said Wednesday that while no decision has been made yet, the agency will soon need to develop a plan to manage resources on the space station and ensure smooth operations in orbit.
“We're getting to the point where we really have to make a decision in the last week of August, if not sooner,” he said.
The launch of Wilmore and Williams marked Boeing's Starliner capsule makes its first manned test flightThe mission was intended as a crucial final test before NASA could certify Boeing for regular flights to and from the ISS.
But five of Starliner’s engines failed as the spacecraft approached the space station in June, causing delays during the rendezvous and docking process. Helium also leaked from the capsule’s propulsion system during the flight — a problem that mission managers knew about before Starliner reached orbit but said was unlikely to impact the mission or the safety of the astronauts.
Joe Acaba, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, said astronauts are trained for contingencies, including accidents that could keep them in space longer than expected.
Wilmore and Williams used their extra time in orbit to conduct scientific experiments and assist space station crew members with maintenance tasks.
Acaba said that while the duo are constantly kept informed of NASA's decision-making process, they ultimately have to rely on the expertise of engineers and mission managers on Earth.
“They will do what we ask them to do, and that's their job as astronauts,” Acaba said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com