NASA to decide Saturday on Boeing capsule's astronaut return safety

CAPE CANAVERAL (WAM)

NASA said on Thursday it will decide this weekend whether Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to return two astronauts from the International Space Station, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and other top officials will meet on Saturday. An announcement is expected from Houston once the meeting ends.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5. The test flight quickly encountered thruster failures and helium leaks so serious that NASA kept the capsule parked at the station as engineers debated what to do.

SpaceX could retrieve the astronauts, but that would keep them up there until next February. If NASA decides SpaceX is the way to go, Starliner would return to Earth empty in September.