The sage of Butch and Sunny (Suni), the two astronauts who were left stranded at the ISS after the last of many Boeing space failures, is almost over.
Sent up as test pilots for Boeing’s ill-fated Starliner, they were left at the ISS due to fears that the Starliner’s many issues made a return to Earth too risky for manned spaceflight. Helium leaks, thruster issues, and difficulties with potential reprogramming of the flight computer all conspired to make the risk profile unattractive.
At the time the decision was made to return the Starliner to Earth unmanned, it was widely speculated that SpaceX would send up a Dragon capsule to return the astronauts to our beautiful Blue Marble. After all, they were sent to the space station without changes of clothes or other necessities beyond the 8-day mission, and no provisions were made for the two extra crew…
