Will NASA Bail Out Bust-Prone Boeing? Starliner's Fate Hangs in the Balance!

Hey there, fellow patriots! Buckle up for the latest in NASA's space soap opera. The big question of the day: Will the crew of the Boeing Starliner hightail it back to Earth in their own ride, or are they stuck hitching a lift on a SpaceX Dragon? (Yeah, you read that right – more taxpayer dollars potentially going down the drain on failed projects!)

Is a Decision Near?

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is set to hold a live news conference at 1 p.m. EDT this Saturday from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, according to NASA's announcement. This shindig will air on TV and livestream just an hour after Nelson huddles behind closed doors with NASA and Boeing bigwigs for a flight readiness review.

Why the hush-hush meeting? Well, they need to figure out if that beleaguered Starliner can actually bring astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams home safely, or if it'll be a lonely, unmanned flight back to Earth.

Stuck in Space?

In case you forgot, these astronauts aren't the first to have their interstellar vacation extended. Frank Rubio's delayed return set a record when he got 'stuck' in space a bit longer than planned.

How to Watch the Big Show

Unlike previous Starliner news conferences, which were all about the media, Saturday's event is going public, with the NASA head honcho himself. If you want to tune in, you've got options:

• Stream it on NASA+
• Watch on NASA Television, which NASA will soon phase out
• Catch it on the NASA app, NASA’s website, or their YouTube channel

The Dreaded Flight Readiness Review

The plan was always to bring Wilmore and Williams back in the Starliner, but NASA has contingency plans (because, you know, this is NASA). Flight readiness reviews are standard pre-mission, but sometimes they need revisiting mid-mission, like in this fiasco.

For the past week or so, NASA and Boeing eggheads have been crunching Starliner data, getting ready for this big review, according to NASA's blogpost. The news conference follows the review’s conclusion.

Boeing's Troubled Starliner

The Starliner's troubles began even before its June launch from Kennedy Space Center. Wilmore and Williams were only supposed to stay at the International Space Station for a tad over a week, but then engineers found helium leaks and propulsion system issues. NASA has scrambled to figure out what to do about it and had to delay the SpaceX Crew-9 launch.

That mission is now rescheduled for Sept. 24. Whether Starliner undocks with or without a crew will determine the future crew rotation plans. If Wilmore and Williams can't get home on Starliner, they might need to hitch a ride on SpaceX.

They've spent their extended stay with the Expedition 71 crew, doing science and station maintenance, according to NASA's statement.

Starliner's Mission

Starliner was supposed to compete with Musk's SpaceX for NASA missions – part of NASA's new strategy to pay private companies for jobs they once did. Certifying Starliner would give NASA a second operational spacecraft, but if it returns without its crew, who knows if it’ll get the green light for future missions.

In the meantime, more taxpayer dollars down the drain? You decide.

Keep America awesome! And stay tuned for more honest news that won’t sugarcoat the truth. Reach me at elagatta@gannett.com for all your right-wing shenanigans.