Crew-9 Commander who gave up seat for Starliner crew gets next Mission

Last August, NASA decided the way to deal with Starliner's issues was to fly the capsule back down autonomously without its crew of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.  They would then come back by cutting the crew coming up on the Crew-9 mission down to two astronauts so that there would be two seats for Butch and Suni to return in after working as the other half of Crew-9. 

The two astronauts who were cut from the original Crew-9 mission were Commander Zena Cardman and mission specialist Stephanie Wilson.  It was announced yesterday, Friday 3/28, that Zena Cardman would be assigned as the commander for Crew-11 which is targeting this coming July to replace the current Crew-10.  So far, NASA has not announced whether Stephanie Wilson has been assigned to a new mission and if so, which one.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 members stand inside the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Nov. 13, 2024. From left are Mission Specialist Kimiya Yui from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), Commander NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, Mission Specialist Oleg Platonov of Roscosmos, and Pilot NASA astronaut Mike Fincke. Image: NASA/Josh Valcarcel

You'll note in the caption (copied from SpaceflightNow) that the photo is dated from last November 13, 2024, and I can see that the digital photo's file is dated Nov. 13.  I take that to mean the decision to put Cardman into the Commander's role was made by then.  

These four will be on the space station when the ISS marks the 25th anniversary of continuous human presence on the orbiting outpost. Expedition 1 docked to the station on Nov. 2, 2000.
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Crew-11 will be the first spaceflight for both Cardman and Platonov, who were selected by their respective space agencies in 2017 and 2018.

When you remember that these shifts all originated because of the problems with Starliner, it's a reminder that the Starliner program is deeply troubled.  NASA is still working out the testing that it would take for them to be comfortable with certifying Starliner.  The agency recently posted to one of their blogs that while progress is being made, the “major in-flight propulsion system anomalies” seen during last summer's flight still remain as outstanding items and likely will until “further into 2025, pending the outcome of various ground test campaigns and potential system upgrades.” 

A new testing campaign is being planned for the spring and summer, which will take place at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. That’s the site where Boeing and NASA attempted to troubleshoot the propulsion issues during the Starliner mission as they debated whether it was safe to return with crew.

“Testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico will include integrated firing of key Starliner thrusters within a single service module doghouse to validate detailed thermal models and inform potential propulsion and spacecraft thermal protection system upgrades, as well as operational solutions for future flights,” NASA said. “These solutions include adding thermal barriers within the doghouse to better regulate temperatures and changing the thruster pulse profiles in flight to prevent overheating.

“Meanwhile, teams are continuing testing of new helium system seal options to mitigate the risk of future leaks.”

Add to that relatively optimistic-sounding summary that the next Starliner test flight isn't defined yet and probably can't be defined until all the work is done, tested as well as it can be tested without being in space, and a major step will be deciding if it's worth testing with a crew.  I can easily see a test flight not being possible until well into 2026.  Does the ISS last until 2030 as now being talked about, or does it need to be de-orbited more in keeping with Elon Musk's suggestion of 2027?  If it's that date, Boeing may never fly a fully operational Starliner mission before the demise of the ISS.