NASA decided not to return to Earth its two astronauts who went to the International Space Station in June. There are now seven individuals on the space station, and two of the American astronauts did not plan to stay there for such a long time.
NASA said that the return of astronauts with the probe of the firm 'Boeing' is very dangerous. According to the announcement, the two astronauts will stay at the space station until February next year, eight months after arriving there.
The announcement by NASA that it will not return to Earth the two astronauts through the probe of the 'Boeing' company is expected to damage its reputation more than its financial side.
Once a symbol of American engineering and technology prowess, Boeing's reputation has been tarnished since two 737 Max jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people.
The safety of the company's products came under renewed scrutiny after a technical problem with a Max model plane in January.
The head of NASA, Bill Nelson said that the decision to return the probe “Starliner” without a person on board is the result of commitment to safety. The Boeing company insisted that its probe is safe after several tests carried out in space and on the ground recently.
The space probe accounts for only a small percentage of Boeing's profits, but transporting astronauts is a high-profile undertaking, similar to that of producing aircraft for the president of the United States.
Since the incident in 2018, Boeing has lost over $25 billion.
In 2014, NASA signed a $4.2 billion contract with Boeing to build a spacecraft to send astronauts to the International Space Station. Also, NASA signed a similar contract of 2.6 billion with the firm 'SpaceX'. The “Dragon” probe of the Space X company has received NASA's approval to send astronauts into space as early as 2020.
A recent SpaceX probe delivered more food and clothes to astronauts Wilmore and Williams to make their stay in space more comfortable.
