Two astronauts who should have been back on Earth weeks ago said Wednesday that they’re confident that Boeing’s space capsule can return them safely, despite a string of vexing breakdowns. NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule early last month, the first people to ride it. Helium leaks and thruster failures almost derailed their arrival at the International Space Station, and have kept them there much longer than planned.
And yet they are not returning before more checks are done
If I understand it correctly, they were confident a while ago already that they could return safely, but they’re taking advantage of the situation to do some tests and experiments to learn more about the failure.
(If you disagree, go yell at Scott Manley, I heard it in one of his recent videos.)