Suni Williams

Boeing Starliner on its way to SLC-41, where it would be mated with at Atlas V booster in preparation for the start of its mission to the International Space Station. Photo: Charles Boyer
Boeing Starliner on its way to SLC-41, where it would be mated with at Atlas V booster in preparation for the start of its mission to the International Space Station. Photo: Charles Boyer

NASA has released a sweeping investigation report into the propulsion system failures that plagued Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner during its Crewed Flight Test (CFT) last year. The report finds a cascade of hardware failures, qualification gaps, organizational breakdowns, and a culture that prioritized schedule and provider success over engineering rigor in the program.

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NASA spacewalker Suni Williams is attached to the tip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as the International Space Station orbited 260 miles above the Earth. Credit: NASA+
NASA spacewalker Suni Williams is attached to the tip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as the International Space Station orbited 260 miles above the Earth. Credit: NASA+

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams completed a 6.5 hour EVA outside the International Space Station today. During the event, Suni Williams became the record-holder for the most accumulated time by a woman for spacewalks. Williams now has 62 hours, 6 minutes of total spacewalk time. She is fourth on NASA’s all-time list as well.

Astronaut Suni Williams (left) conducted her ninth career spacewalk and Butch Wilmore (right) conducted his fifth career spacewalk today. Photo: NASA

The two astronauts are, of course, part of the current political kerfuffle surrounding their stay on ISS, when they were assigned to ISS Expedition 71/72 after it was decided to return their Starliner capsule home uncrewed thanks to technical concerns about the Boeing spacecraft.

During their pair’s EVA, Williams surpassed former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson’s total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes.

The former record holder posted her congratulations today on X.com:

While outside ISS, the Williams and Wilmore performed work to remove an antenna assembly from the station’s truss, collected samples of surface material for analysis from the Destiny laboratory and the Quest airlock to see whether microorganisms exist on the exterior of ISS, and they also prepared a spare elbow joint for the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Coming Home This Spring

The pair are set to return to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon in late March or early April. Currently, Crew 10 is slated to launch on March 24th, and after a handoff period Crew 9 will return to Earth with Williams and Wilmore aboard a Crew Dragon.

After they joined Expedition’s 71/72 crew, the plan was to bring them home in February, but delays in SpaceX’s completing and qualifying a new Dragon capsule that will be used for the mission forced NASA to further extend the length of their unexpected stay in space.

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