NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are set to come back to Earth in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to ensure safe return. However, there are some complications that NASA needs to address first, including getting compatible spacesuits for the astronauts. This is because Boeing spacesuits are not compatible with the SpaceX spacecraft.
NASA commercial crew manager Steve Stich told reporters during a conference recently said, "We currently have one suit on orbit that fits Suni—she’s tried it on, and it fits well. That’s a SpaceX suit, though, and the Starliner and Dragon suits are not compatible. When we set up the contracts, each contractor was responsible for designing their own suits and interfaces. We're also sending a suit for Butch on Crew-9, so he’ll have one when they arrive.”
He added, “So in a temporary situation, we would not have suits for Butch and Suni on Dragon. Dragon is designed to support four suits for four people. In this temporary situation, Butch and Sonny won’t have suits until Crew-9 arrives. Once Crew-9 gets there, it will be a normal vehicle setup, with suits and seats for all crew members.”
Explaining more about the spacesuits of the two astronauts, he revealed, “The two Boeing suits will return with the Starliner. The suits that Butch and Suni wore for launch day and during their trip to the space station will be coming back.”
Initially scheduled to return in 8 days, it has been delayed by over 2 months now due to technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft. Since they will be there for a total of 8 months, which is a lot of time away from family. Talking about supporting the families during such long-duration missions, Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station Program Manager stated that they make sure that the astronauts’ families are actively involved and follow the mission closely, whether it’s coming to witness key events like docking and undocking or joining them in the viewing room at Mission Control.
Weigel noted, “In addition to having phones to stay in touch with their families, the crew also benefits from the experience of previous astronauts. We’ve built a solid support system, both in the crew office and the operations area. Moreover, we provide behavioural health resources and additional support for both the crew on board and their families. It's a comprehensive support network, and they are truly part of the NASA family.”
Click the link below to watch the Boeing Starliner return tonight.