--- title: "Stranded Boeing Astronaut Forced to Slum It in a Sleeping Bag by Himself" description: "Those tranded Boeing Starliner astronauts are apparently being forced to deal with some pretty undignified living standards. " date: "2024-08-15" modified: "2024-08-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/stranded-boeing-astronauts-sleeping-bag" categories: - "Boeing" - "Health & Medicine" - "Sleep" - "Space" tags: - "boeing" - "international space station" - "starliner" - "the digest" --- # Stranded Boeing Astronaut Forced to Slum It in a Sleeping Bag by Himself ![Those tranded Boeing Starliner astronauts are apparently being forced to deal with some pretty undignified living standards. ]() *\Image: Joe Raedle via Getty\* ## Bag and Tag More than two months into what was supposed to be a [week-long journey](), the stranded NASA astronauts who hitched a ride to the International Space Station on board [Boeing's doomed Starliner spacecraft]() are apparently being forced to deal with some pretty undignified living standards. As [*Time* notes](), the space station was already occupied by seven astronauts before NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived via the Starliner in early June. Because the Boeing-built craft immediately [sprung several helium leaks]() during its journey to the station, the pair are now stuck on board the ISS indefinitely — and as they [previously told the magazine](), that means they're not exactly sleeping in style. Williams seems to have gotten the better end of the deal by spending the last two months camped out on board the space station's Crew Alternate Sleep Accommodation (CASA) sleep chamber with another of the extra astronauts hanging out on board the European Space Agency-built Columbus module. Wilmore, however, has been forced to contend with a sleeping bag in the Japanese Space Agency's Kibo module. "Butch is going to have to rough it a little bit," Williams told *Time* back in May when she and her copilot thought they'd only be slumming it for a mere eight days. ## No Scrubs It sounds less than ideal — but as the report notes, Williams and Wilmore's difficulties don't end with their sleeping arrangements. As with every ISS mission, the Starliner astronauts initially had specific jobs to do on board the station that would have eaten up their eight-day journey. As *Time* reports, their main priority was checking in on the Boeing capsule and making sure its communications, life support, and other essential functions were in good shape. With that checklist done and their journey having been extended [until possibly February]() due to Starliner's technical issues, Wilmore and Williams have instead been assisting their fellow crew members with their tasks and experiments, including [repairing a urine processing pump](). Beyond that lovely job, Wilmore and Williams were also forced to stretch their clothing rations because there's no laundry on board the ISS. Generally speaking, astronauts pack enough clothes for the length of their journey, and with their trip home having been pushed back repeatedly, the Starliner crew had to make do until a [Northrop Grumman resupply mission]() finally came to deliver them new clothes earlier this month. There was never much dignity to life on board the ISS, to begin with — and now that they're stranded there, Williams and Wilmore are likely feeling the burn of Boeing's shoddy Starliner work. **More on Starliner:** [*NASA Clown Car Plan Would Stuff Extra Astronauts Into SpaceX Capsule to Avoid Return Journey in Disastrous Boeing Starliner*]() ## 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]()