NASA Says No Plan to Use SpaceX to Rescue Boeing Starliner Astronauts

For two astronauts supposedly stranded in space, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore of NASA are certainly enjoying living aboard the International Space Station for an extra month or two.

“We are having a great time here on I.S.S.,” Ms. Williams said during a news conference from orbit on Wednesday.

She added: “I’m not complaining. Butch isn’t complaining that we’re up here for a couple of extra weeks.”

Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore arrived at the space station on June 6 as part of a shakedown flight for Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. Their stay was originally scheduled for just over a week, but it now has stretched indefinitely as engineers work to better understand problems that occurred with Starliner’s propulsion system before it docked with the space station.

The Boeing Starliner is one of two spacecraft that NASA has hired to take astronauts to and from the space station. The other, the Crew Dragon from SpaceX, has been in operation for four years, but NASA officials say they want two different spacecraft so they have a backup in case one vehicle experiences a problem.