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New England Native, Second Astronaut Will Hitch Ride On SpaceX Capsule Amid Starliner Troubles New England Native, Second Astronaut Will Hitch Ride On SpaceX Capsule Amid Starliner Troubles
New England Native, Second Astronaut Will Hitch Ride On SpaceX Capsule Amid Starliner Troubles After spending months in limbo aboard the International Space Station, an astronaut from Massachusetts finally has a return date to Earth. Pilot Suni Williams, from the town of Needham in Norfolk County, and commander Butch Wilmore will abandon Boeing’s troubled Starliner and instead hitch a ride on a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February 2025, NASA confirmed Saturday, Aug. 24. The stunning decision capped off 11 weeks of uncertainty after NASA discovered numerous helium leaks and malfunctions with Starliner’s thrusters following its launch from Florida's Space Coast on Wednesday, June 5. Ea…

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by Michael Mashburn
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Mass Astronaut May Be Stuck In Space Until 2025 As NASA Mulls 'Other Options' For Starliner Mass Astronaut May Be Stuck In Space Until 2025 As NASA Mulls 'Other Options' For Starliner
Mass Astronaut May Be Stuck In Space Until 2025 As NASA Mulls 'Other Options' For Starliner What was supposed to be an eight-day trip to the International Space Station may end up lasting much, much longer for an astronaut from Massachusetts. Two months after the Boeing-built Starliner blasted off from Florida’s Space Coast on its first crewed flight, NASA announced that pilot Suni Williams, from the town of Needham in Norfolk County, and commander Butch Wilmore may not come home until February 2025. In a mission update Wednesday, Aug. 7, NASA and Boeing leaders said they were still figuring out how to safely bring the pair back to Earth and that they may have to ride back on a Sp…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
NASA 'Not Quite Ready' To Bring New England Native, 2nd Astronaut Home Amid Starliner Troubles NASA 'Not Quite Ready' To Bring New England Native, 2nd Astronaut Home Amid Starliner Troubles
NASA 'Not Quite Ready' To Bring New England Native, 2nd Astronaut Home Amid Starliner Troubles Nearly two months after blasting off from Florida’s Space Coast, a pair of NASA astronauts – including a Massachusetts native – still have no idea when they’ll return to Earth. In a mission update Thursday, July 25, NASA and Boeing leaders still could not commit to a return date for Starliner pilot Suni Williams, from the town of Needham in Norfolk County, and commander Butch Wilmore. The pair – serving as guinea pigs of sorts for Starliner’s first crewed mission – remain in limbo aboard the International Space Station after numerous helium leaks and malfunctions with the spacecraft’s thrus…

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by Michael Mashburn
News
Stuck In Space: Mass Astronaut Faces Uncertain Return Date Amid Starliner Troubles Stuck In Space: Mass Astronaut Faces Uncertain Return Date Amid Starliner Troubles
Stuck In Space: Mass Astronaut Faces Uncertain Return Date Amid Starliner Troubles A Massachusetts native is among two American astronauts facing an uncertain return date to Earth amid ongoing problems with the Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft. Pilot and Needham native Suni Williams, along with commander Butch Wilmore, remains stuck on the International Space Station nearly a week after their expected departure date while NASA crews work to understand several issues that have arisen since the pair launched into orbit on Wednesday, June 5. Among the problems sparking concern are malfunctions of the vehicle’s thrusters and numerous helium leaks that sprang up during their…

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by Michael Mashburn
Lifestyle
CT Filmmaker Will Fly To Space As Crew Member Of First Civilian Mission To Moon CT Filmmaker Will Fly To Space As Crew Member Of First Civilian Mission To Moon
CT Filmmaker Will Fly To Space As Crew Member Of First Civilian Mission To Moon A filmmaker from Marlborough will be part of the first-ever civilian mission to orbit the moon.  Brendan Hall, a documentary filmmaker, was selected out of over one million artists and creatives to be a crew member of the "dearMoon" mission, which will make a month-long journey to the moon and back using a SpaceX rocket later in 2023. The idea for the project came from Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa, who purchased the seats aboard the rocket for eight other crew members.  Hall's films have focused on telling stories in remote parts of the world such as Siberia and the Amazon rainfor…

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by Ben Crnic
News
Bright Light Observed By Skywatchers Up, Down East Coast Turns Out To Be SpaceX Bright Light Observed By Skywatchers Up, Down East Coast Turns Out To Be SpaceX
Bright Light Observed By Skywatchers Up, Down East Coast Turns Out To Be SpaceX What some first thought was a meteor making its way up the East Coast turned out to be Elon Musk's SpaceX. The Falcon 9 rocket sent Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida just after 7:30 p.m., according to a news release. Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/xmjw89AMK6 — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 24, 2022 Footage of the rocket was captured about 30 minutes later in Washington DC, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The @SpaceX Starlink launch was just amazingly bright from cen…

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by David Cifarelli & Cecilia Levine