NASA to keep Boeing Starliner astronauts on ISS until February 2025

e offering a reward for tips in this latest case. Stuck in space, two astronauts went up to the International Space Station on Boeing's Starliner two months ago. Now we've learned they will return home on a different spacecraft next year.

That's a decision NASA made today. As NBC Bay Area's Marianne Favro reports, Elon Musk's SpaceX will play a role in getting that crew back to Earth. NASA says because of major issues on the Boeing Starliner, it was too risky to bring the astronauts home on it.

With a decision up in the air for weeks, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams now know when and how they'll return to Earth. NASA has decided that Butch and Sunny will return with crew nine next February. The two astronauts were on Boeing's Starliner's historic launch in June, the first with a crew.

What was supposed to be an eight day mission on the International Space Station will now last eight months. Now, a SpaceX Drgon capsule. Boeing's biggest competitor will give them a ride home.

NASA announced its decision Saturday. It was just too much risk, but the crew. And so we decided to pursue the uncrewed test flight.

The troubled Starliner had two major problems helium leaks and thruster issues. Bay Area Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a ranking member of the House science, Space and Technology Committee, issued a joint statement with Congressman Erik Sorensen saying, quote, we commend NASA and Boeing's commitment to prioritizing safety. We thank astronauts Wilmore and Williams for their heroic teamwork, patience and flexibility on the crew flight test mission, and we look forward to their safe return home.

The concerning events leading to today's decision, however, must be understood and addressed. Boeing released a statement saying it continues to focus first and foremost on the safety of the spacecraft. Here we are in the front of the International Space Station.

NASA says the two astronauts will have plenty of supplies to last until February. As for the Starliner, NASA says the empty capsule will head back to Earth, likely in early September, but NASA leaders say they anticipate the Starliner will fly with a crew again in the future.