--- title: "NASA Praises Boeing’s Stranded Starliner for Managing Not to Explode While Docked to Space Station" description: "As astronauts remain stuck on the ISS thanks to issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule, NASA is praising the company for getting them there." date: "2024-07-04" modified: "2024-07-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-praises-boeing-starliner" categories: - "Boeing" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "boeing" - "NASA" - "starliner" - "the digest" --- # NASA Praises Boeing’s Stranded Starliner for Managing Not to Explode While Docked to Space Station ![As astronauts remain stuck on the ISS thanks to issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule, NASA is praising the company for getting them there.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Bright Side As two [astronauts remain stuck aboard the International Space Station]() thanks to a barrage of issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule, NASA is praising the aerospace company for getting them there in one piece. As [*Space.com* reports](), NASA said that despite the [several issues that arose during its first days]() in space, the Starliner is now performing well enough that it and former naval pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronauts who hitched a ride to the ISS on the capsule, will be able to stay there for as long as it takes the agency and Boeing to figure out how to fix those problems. Despite [repeated delays](), [warnings that the Boeing capsule craft]() would [likely have issues](), and the [discovery of helium leaks prior to liftoff](), NASA nevertheless went ahead with the first crewed Starliner launch in early June. To the shock of no one, it immediately ran into trouble, first [developing more leaks on its journey]() to the ISS and then [having trouble docking]() once it got there. Though the mission was only planned to last for 10 days, that stretch keeps growing — and has now been [extended indefinitely](). ## Exponential Increases Yes, we're rolling our eyes too. "We talked about a 45-day limit, limited by the crew module batteries on Starliner, and we're in the process of updating that limit," Steve Stich, the manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, told reporters at the end of last week [during a teleconference]() attended by *Space.com*. "We've been looking at those batteries and their performance on orbit. They're getting recharged by station, and that risk hasn't really changed. So the risk for the next 45 days is essentially the same as the first 45 days." If you're keeping tabs, that jargon-y explanation for the American astronauts being stranded aboard the ISS for an indeterminate amount of time has a NASA official admitting that they could be there for 90 days total — nine times longer than the 10 days than Wilmore and Williams were originally allotted for the mission. And as *Space.com* notes, Starliner is technically rated to stay in orbit as long as 210 days, which would be 21 times longer than that initial 10-day window. It's a disastrous state of affairs for everyone involved — but hey, at least the capsule didn't blow up! **More on Starliner:** [*NASA Says That the Boeing* "*Astronauts Are Not Stranded*" *While the Astronauts Remain Stranded*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()