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IT Home reported on August 25 that NASA announced on Saturday local time that due to problems with Boeing’s new manned spacecraft Starliner,It is too dangerous to send the two astronauts back to Earth, so they will have to wait until next year to return on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.The test flight, originally planned to last a week, will now stretch to more than eight months.

IT Home noted that the two experienced astronauts have been stranded at the International Space Station since early June this year. Boeing's Starliner had thruster failures and helium leaks on its way to the International Space Station, causing the return time to be repeatedly delayed.

After nearly three months of evaluation, NASA's top management made the final decision on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Sunny Williams will return to Earth on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in February next year. The Starliner spacecraft will detach from the International Space Station in early September and attempt to return to the New Mexico desert without a pilot. As test pilots of the Starliner spacecraft, the two were supposed to oversee this crucial return journey.

NASA said,The unmanned return of Starliner will allow NASA and Boeing to continue collecting relevant test data during its return process while preventing astronauts from "taking on risks beyond unnecessary limits."

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said: "The test flight is neither inherently safe nor routine. The decision is "a commitment to safety." Nelson pointed out that lessons learned from NASA's two space shuttle accidents played a role. He emphasized that this time, open dialogue was encouraged rather than suppressed.

NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Freeh added: "This was not an easy decision, but it is absolutely the right one."

It's a blow to Boeing, adding to the company's safety issues over the plane. Boeing had hoped the first crewed flight of Starliner would revive its troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and cost increases.The company maintains that the Starliner spacecraft is safe based on all recent thruster testing, both in space and on the ground.

Boeing did not participate in NASA's press conference on Saturday, but said in a statement: "Boeing remains focused on crew and spacecraft safety." The company said it is preparing the spacecraft "for a safe and successful reentry."

The SpaceX spacecraft currently docked at the International Space Station is reserved for the four residents who have been aboard the station since March. They are due to return in late September, their regular six-month stay extended by a month due to problems with the Starliner spacecraft. NASA said it would not be safe to squeeze two more people aboard the spacecraft, barring an emergency.

The docked Russian Soyuz spacecraft is even more crowded, carrying only three astronauts, two of whom are Russians, who are completing a year-long mission.

So Wilmore and Williams will wait for SpaceX's next crewed spacecraft, which will launch in late September with two astronauts aboard instead of the usual four. NASA will remove two astronauts to make room for Wilmore and Williams' return flight in late February.

Despite Saturday's decision, NASA is not giving up on Boeing. Nelson said he is "100 percent" confident the Starliner spacecraft will fly again.

A decade ago, NASA began its Commercial Crew Program, hoping that two American companies would fly astronauts after the end of the space shuttle era. Boeing got the larger contract: more than $4 billion, while SpaceX got $2.6 billion.

With the completed International Space Station cargo mission, SpaceX successfully completed its first manned flight in 2020 and has now carried out nine manned flights, while Boeing has been mired in design flaws that have cost the company more than $1 billion. NASA officials remain hopeful that the problems with the Starliner spacecraft can be corrected within a year or two so that manned flights can be carried out again.