Elon Musk will rescue Nasa astronauts trapped on space station

They are now expected to return next February on Crew Dragon spacecraft manufactured by tycoon’s SpaceX, Boeing’s Starliner rival

Elon Musk will help bring two astronauts trapped on the International Space Station back to Earth early next year.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams have been left stranded on the ISS because of problems with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft in which they arrived for an eight-day mission in June.
Nasa said on Saturday that the astronauts are now expected to return in February on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The spacecraft, which is manufactured by SpaceX, Boeing’s rival founded by Mr Musk, is due to launch next month as part of a routine astronaut rotation mission.
Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, both former military test pilots, became the first crew to ride Starliner on June 5 when they were launched to the ISS.
But Starliner’s propulsion system suffered a series of glitches beginning in the first 24 hours of its flight to the ISS, triggering delays lasting until next year.
Five of its 28 thrusters failed and several leaks of helium, which is used to pressurise the small rockets, were detected, with Nasa deeming the issues too risky to carry its first crew home.
Following Nasa’s decision, Boeing’s Starliner chief Mark Nappi said in an email to company employees: “I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to carry out the action’s necessary to support Nasa’s decision.
“The focus remains first and foremost on ensuring the safety of the crew and spacecraft.”
Starliner will undock from the ISS without a crew and attempt to return to Earth as it would have with astronauts aboard, while two of the Crew Dragon’s four astronaut seats will be kept empty for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams.
In July, following news of the initial delays, Mr Williams said in a news conference: “It’s great to be up here, so I’m not complaining.”
Boeing had hoped the test mission would redeem the Starliner program after years of development problems and over $1.6 billion (£1.2 billion) in budget overruns since 2016. 
The company is also struggling with quality issues on production of commercial planes, its most important products.
Boeing struggled for years to develop Starliner, a gumdrop-shaped capsule designed to compete with Crew Dragon as a second US option for sending astronaut crews to and from Earth’s orbit.
Starliner failed a 2019 test to launch to the ISS uncrewed, but mostly succeeded in a 2022 attempt where it also encountered thruster problems.
Its June mission with its first crew was required for Nasa to certify the capsule for routine flights, meaning Starliner’s path to certification path has been disrupted.
Since Starliner docked to the ISS in June, Boeing has scrambled to investigate what caused its thruster mishaps and helium leaks.
The company arranged tests and simulations on Earth to gather data that it has used to try and convince Nasa officials that Starliner is safe to fly the crew back home.
But the results raised more difficult engineering questions and failed to quell Nasa officials’ concerns about Starliner’s ability to make its crewed return trip – the most daunting and complex part of the test mission.
Nasa’s decision and Starliner’s now-uncertain path to certification will add to the crises faced by Kelly Ortberg, the new Boeing chief executive, who started this month with the goal to rebuild the planemaker’s reputation after a door panel blew off a 737 Max passenger jet in midair in January.