New Mexico starts building an abortion clinic to serve neighboring states - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
Construction is getting underway on a state-funded reproductive health and abortion clinic in southern New Mexico that will cater to local residents and people who travel from neighboring states such as Texas and Oklahoma with major restrictions on abortion, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Thursday.
Construction of the clinic will draw upon $10 million in state funding that was set aside by the governor under a 2022 executive order. New Mexico has one of the country's most liberal abortion-access laws.
Lujan Grisham, a second-term Democrat who can't run again in 2026, reiterated her commitment to shoring up abortion access in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked universal access to abortion.
"Access to reproductive healthcare should be a fundamental human right," Lujan Grisham said in a statement. "Once completed, this clinic will stand as a testament to our state's commitment to reproductive freedom for residents of New Mexico, and also those who travel here from out-of-state in need of this care."
New Mexico accompanies Democratic-led states from California to New Jersey that are underwriting efforts to bolster abortion services and protections.
New Jersey last year awarded $15 million in zero-interest loans and grants to health care facilities that provide abortion services for facility improvements and increased security. In 2022, California legislators approved $200 million in new spending to bolster the state's already robust abortion protections.
The governor's announcement in New Mexico thrusts public policy on abortion back in the spotlight in the runup to the November general election, with the entire state Legislature up for reelection as Democrats defend their state House and Senate majorities.
Republican contenders for a U.S. Senate seat and a congressional swing district in southern New Mexico have said they won't support a federal abortion ban, amid Democratic-backed political ads that highlight the potential for further federal restrictions.
In 2021, New Mexico state lawmakers repealed a dormant 1969 statute that outlawed most abortion procedures as felonies, ensuring access. But opposition to abortion runs deep in New Mexico communities along the border with Texas, which has one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S.
Several New Mexico cities and counties have approved abortion-ban ordinances that are on hold while the state Supreme Court weighs whether local governments have the right to back federal abortion restrictions under a 19th century U.S. law that prohibits the shipping of abortion medication and supplies.
It was unclear when the new clinic in Las Cruces would open to provide services ranging from medical and procedural abortions to contraception, cervical cancer screenings and education about adoptions.
New Mexico attorney general sues company behind Snapchat alleging child sexual extortion on the site - By Barbara Ortutay, Associated Press
New Mexico's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the company behind Snapchat, alleging that site's design and policies foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material and facilitate child sexual exploitation.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Snap Inc. Thursday in state court in Santa Fe. In addition to sexual abuse, the lawsuit claims the company also openly promotes child trafficking, drugs and guns.
Last December, Torrez filed a similar lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, saying it allows predators to trade child sexual abuse material and solicit minors for sex on its platforms. That suit is pending.
Snap's "harmful design features create an environment where predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse," Torrez said in a statement. Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors.
"Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and they have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely," Torres said.
In a statement, Snap said it shares Torrez's and the public's concerns about the online safety of young people.
"We understand that online threats continue to evolve and we will continue to work diligently to address these critical issues," the company based in Santa Monica, California, said. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our trust and safety teams over the past several years, and designed our service to promote online safety by moderating content and enabling direct messaging with close friends and family."
According to the complaint, minors report having more online sexual interactions on Snapchat than any other platform, and more sex trafficking victims are recruited on Snapchat than on any other platform.
Prior to the lawsuit, New Mexico conducted a monthslong undercover investigation into child sexual abuse images on Snapchat. According to Torrez's statement, the investigation revealed a "vast network of dark web sites dedicated to sharing stolen, non-consensual sexual images from Snap," finding more than 10,000 records related to Snap and child sexual abuse material in the last year. This included information related to minors younger than 13 being sexually assaulted.
As part of the undercover investigation, the New Mexico department of justice set up a decoy Snapchat account for a 14-year-old named Heather, who found and exchanged messages with accounts with names like "child.rape" and "pedo_lover10."
Snapchat, the lawsuit alleges, "was by far the largest source of images and videos among the dark web sites investigated." Investigators also found Snapchat accounts that openly circulated and sold child abuse images directly on the platform.
Governor taps New Mexico Chamber of Commerce head to lead Economic Development Department – KUNM News
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed Rob Black to lead the New Mexico Economic Development Department.
Black leads the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. He will assume the new role on Sept. 16. Black takes over from Mark Roper, who has been leading the agency on an interim basis.
Previous Economic Development Secretary Alicia Keyes stepped down last year.
Black holds a law degree and is originally from Lovington. Before returning to New Mexico he led community relations at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. He also worked in public policy and with The Carter Center in Liberia.
Earlier this year Black told KUNM the state’s top export was not oil and gas, but its young people. He also said oil and gas revenues will likely decline in the next decade.
“If we're not competitive for investment and growth in other industries, we're going to leave the next generation of New Mexico in a deeper state of poverty,” he said. “So, that means we need to improve our business climate. We need to improve our innovation ecosystem, our education, workforce and our infrastructure.”
Black and the chamber advocated for legislation that passed this year to expand apprenticeship programs to help people get into the workforce quickly.
NMED, DOE reach agreement in efforts to clean up LANL waste - By Hannah Grover, New Mexico Political Report
The New Mexico Environment Department has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up areas around Los Alamos National Laboratory.
This settlement agreement, which was finalized on Aug. 30, is associated with a new Compliance Order on Consent in a court case. This new order supersedes a 2016 agreement that New Mexico says failed to lead to meaningful clean-up of legacy radioactive waste around the lab.
“Los Alamos National Laboratory is now fully accountable for cleaning up the radioactive waste legacy stemming from the Oppenheimer days,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a press release. “This settlement agreement holds the U.S. Department of Energy accountable to both New Mexicans and Tribal communities who have every right to expect full and timely remediation of the site.”
This new agreement follows upon a 2021 suit that the state filed against the Department of Energy alleging failure to clean-up legacy waste. In that suit, NMED sought to overturn the 2016 agreement and to obtain court-supervised negotiations for a new agreement. The suit also sought $333,000 for the alleged violations.
“This is the culmination of years of effort by the Environment Department, with this consent order being one more step in holding the Department of Energy accountable,” NMED Secretary James Kenney said in a press release. “Los Alamos National Laboratory must now immediately get to work and fill the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant with legacy waste. All excuses have been voided.”
NMED announced on Wednesday that it will conduct public stakeholder and Tribal meetings to “explore the terms of the settlement and opportunities for engagement.” Those meetings will occur in the upcoming months and have not yet been announced.
Citing costs, technical problems, jail ditches health monitoring bracelets - Elise Kaplan, City Desk ABQ
After a notable spike in deaths at the state’s largest jail, in April 2023 the former warden reached out to a company that promised a solution — biosensor wristbands that monitor an at-risk inmate’s vital signs and alert authorities if anything is wrong.
A year later, six more people had died in custody of the jail, four of whom were in the detox unit.
None of them had been wearing the monitors, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Detention Center said. The devices, called Overwatch, were made by 4Sight Labs, and purchased locally through APIC Solutions.
About half of the people who died since the beginning of 2020 were detoxing from drugs and alcohol.
On Wednesday, hours after City Desk asked questions about the contract, MDC spokesperson Daniel Trujillo sent out a news release announcing the county had canceled it in April, more than two years early.
“Vendors had assured MDC that Overwatch™ would work within current IT infrastructure,” Trujillo wrote. “However, it was unable to integrate with MDC’s inmate management system. Overwatch™ relied on Bluetooth and could not maintain a reliable connection with the sensors. Battery life was two hours and made charging impractical during jail operations. Inmates complained about the wristbands being uncomfortable. Some inmates exercised their right not to participate in the bracelet program during intake.”
However, a representative from 4Sight Labs said after they were notified of some technical difficulties with the first generation model, they offered to replace it with the second generation and were rebuffed.
“I don’t know if it was a change of commands, I don’t know if they got too busy,” said COO Dave Sanders. “We definitely attempted, and have reached out to help, and would be more than happy to get it in there. It was paid for as part of their initial year.
Sanders said 4Sight Labs, which was launched three years ago, is used by 50 agencies around the country. The devices are in facilities in six counties around the state and several more are interested.
“If used and reacted to appropriately, it does have the ability to save lives,” he said. “That’s been proven by the 16 that have been reported to us.”
In response to questions, Trujillo said the “manufacture (sic) of the Gen 2 devices experienced delays, and therefore were not used at the facility.”
“Beginning July 2023, through the decision to terminate the contract, the county met with both vendors numerous times to resolve the issues that affected usage at MDC,” Trujillo said. “Solutions to the problems never came.”
The $1.2 million contract included monitors for 200 inmates for approximately $467,425. The decision to terminate it early means it will save $732,575, Trujillo said.
He would not answer questions about whether correctional officers or medical staff were tasked with monitoring the devices.
“MDC will continue working with our healthcare partners to proactively monitor at-risk inmates, and pursue innovative ways to assist in those efforts,” Trujillo said.
Of the 32 people who died in custody over the past four and a half years, 17 were in the detox unit.
The county has changed medical providers twice in the past four years and the University of New Mexico Hospital now has the contract. Six people have died since UNMH took over in July 2023.
MLG announces $125 million housing program for workers - By Nicole Maxwell, New Mexico Political Report
The governor announced a new state-funded workforce housing development funding program on Wednesday.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the Opportunity Enterprise Housing Development Program which seeks to help families that do not ordinarily qualify for the traditional affordable housing options.
“A lack of housing supply is creating too many problems in our state, from growing unhoused populations to essential workers not being able to live in the communities where they work,” Lujan Grisham said in a press release. “This initiative is an important tool for creating more homes and options for New Mexicans.”
The Opportunity Enterprise Housing Development Program is a $125 million program administered through the New Mexico Finance Authority.
The Opportunity Enterprise and Housing Revolving Loan Fund “will build on their success with the current Opportunity Enterprise economic development funding program to address the state’s housing shortage for workers,” the press release states.
The fund prioritizes communities where local governments are seeking to reduce new housing barriers and could include initiatives such as streamlining permitting, inspections, and updating land use and zoning rules to remove invisible barriers to creating badly needed new housing, the press release states.
The first funding round will make $30 million available, the press release states.
The current application round for the Opportunity Enterprise programs opens on Sept. 4 and closes on Oct. 16. All applications will be reviewed by the Opportunity Enterprise Board and scored after the round closes based on an established evaluation policy.
For more information or to apply visit https://www.nmfinance.com/opportunity-enterprise-housing-development-revolving-fund. Interested developers with questions can contact NMFA program staff at OERF@nmfa.net or by calling (505) 992-9687.
Prosecutor asks for a charge to be reinstated against Alec Baldwin in the 'Rust' case - By Morgan Lee, Associated Press
A prosecutor asked a New Mexico judge to reconsider the decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie, according to a court filing made public Wednesday.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said there were insufficient facts to support the July ruling and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case halfway through a trial based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
In the request to reconsider, Morrissey argued again that the undisclosed ammunition was not relevant to the case against Baldwin, which hinged on his responsibility to handle a gun safely under familiar industry guidelines.
"No one on the prosecution team ... ever intentionally kept evidence from the defendant, it simply didn't occur to the prosecution that the rounds were relevant to the case even if they were the same or similar to the live rounds found on the set of 'Rust,'" Morrissey wrote.
She asserted that defense attorneys knew about the rounds but canceled an opportunity to view them prior to trial.
"This is a smoke screen created by the defense and was intended to sway and confuse the court ... and it was successful," Morrissey wrote.
Baldwin attorney Luke Nikas said a response will be filed with the court, without further comment.
Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is serving an 18-month sentence on a conviction for involuntary manslaughter. She was accused of flouting standard safety protocols and missing multiple opportunities to detect forbidden live ammunition on set. Assistant director and safety coordinator David Halls pleaded no contest to the negligent use of a deadly weapon and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation. A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
It hasn't been officially determined who brought the live rounds that killed Hutchins to the set, though prosecutors allege that Gutierrez-Reed was responsible.
The ammunition that skuttled the case was handed over to a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office crime scene technician who filed the evidence under an unrelated case number. Three of those rounds resembled live rounds that were collected from the "Rust" set after the fatal shooting.
The mysterious ammunition was dropped off at the sheriff's office by Troy Teske, of Bullhead City, Arizona, who routinely stored weapons and ammunition for his friend and longtime movie-gun coach Thell Reed — Gutierrez-Reed's stepfather and mentor as a film-set armorer.
Morrissey asked the judge to order defense attorneys to show when and how they learned of the ammunition provided by Teske, calling the defense motion to dismiss the case "all a ruse."
Attorneys for Baldwin have said he was unaware that live ammunition had been brought to the film set and that prosecutors hid evidence while trying to establish a link between the live ammo on set and Gutierrez-Reed. They said prosecutors wanted to drive home the argument that Baldwin should have recognized the armorer's blundering youth and inexperience.
Gutierrez-Reed is seeking the dismissal of her involuntary manslaughter conviction based on the allegations of suppressed evidence that emerged at Baldwin's trial.
Separately, Gutierrez-Reed has requested a hearing on a proposal to change her plea to guilty in exchange for a deferred sentence on a felony firearms charge pertaining to accusations that she took a gun into a Santa Fe bar weeks before "Rust" began filming.
Under the agreement with prosecutors, Gutierrez-Reed would serve 18 months under supervised probation with the potential for incarceration for probation violations. Terms of probation agreement, if approved, would forbid possession of firearms and the consumption of drugs or alcohol and would require registration in a criminal justice DNA database.
CEOs of Albertsons and Kroger says shoppers would see lower prices after merger - By Claire Rush and Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press
The chief executive officers of Kroger and Albertsons insisted Wednesday — under questioning from the federal government — that merging would allow the two supermarket companies to lower prices and more effectively compete with retail giants like Walmart, Costco and Amazon.
Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen and Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran appeared in Oregon's U.S. District Court to testify against the Federal Trade Commission's attempt to block the proposed merger of their companies. During the hearing, the commission's lawyers suggested that the merger would hurt competition in certain areas where the two are each other's primary rivals.
"The day that we merge is the day that we will begin lowering prices," McMullen said while under questioning by a lawyer representing his company.
The two companies proposed what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history in October 2022, after Kroger agreed to purchase Albertsons. But the Federal Trade Commission sued to prevent the $24.6 billion deal, alleging it would eliminate competition and lead to higher food prices for already struggling customers.
Addressing another issue that has worried shoppers in communities with both Albertsons and Kroger-run stores, McMullen said Kroger was committed to not closing any branches immediately if the merger is finalized but might down the road if it decides location changes or consolidations are needed.
Sankaran, Albertsons' CEO, argued that the deal would boost growth and in turn bolster stores and union jobs, because many of its and Kroger's competitors, like Walmart, have few unionized workers. But when asked what his company would do if the merger didn't go through, he said it may pursue "structural options" like laying off employees, closing stores and exiting certain markets, if unable to find other ways to lower costs.
"I would have to consider that," he said. "It's a dramatically different picture with the merger than without it."
An FTC lawyer pointed to a written statement that Sankaran provided to the U.S. Senate in 2022 when testifying about the merger, in which he said his company was "in excellent financial condition." Sankaran said the market and certain conditions had changed since then.
The testimonies of both CEOs were expected to be critical components of the three-week hearing, which is at its midpoint. What the two say under oath about prices, potential store closures and the impact on workers will likely be scrutinized in the years ahead if the merger goes through.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith's and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw's. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people.
FTC attorneys have argued that in the 22 states where the two companies compete now, they closely match each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition and would lose out if the merger is allowed to proceed, they said.
According to Kroger and Albertsons company documents referred to by FTC lawyers on Wednesday, the two companies are primary rivals in multiple regions, from southern California to the Portland metropolitan area. A Kroger attorney countered by saying that Walmart remains Kroger's largest competitor in a majority of markets around the country.
McMullen said that Albertsons' prices are 10% to 12% higher than Kroger's and that the merged company would try to reduce the disparity as part of a strategy for keeping customers. Walmart now controls around 22% of U.S. grocery sales. Combined, Kroger and Albertsons would control around 13%.
"We know that pricing is going to continue to go down," McMullen said.
The two CEOs also spoke to the ways in which e-commerce has transformed the grocery industry, noting Amazon's online shopping platforms and its purchase of Whole Foods.
"When Amazon enters something, they make a big change," Sankaran said.
The FTC and labor union leaders also claim that workers' wages and benefits would decline if Kroger and Albertsons no longer compete with each other. They have additionally expressed concern that potential store closures could create so-called food and pharmacy "deserts" for consumers.
"America needs more competition, more grocery stores, and more leverage for workers to secure better pay and staffing – not less," the United Food and Commercial Workers International union's Stop the Merger coalition said in a statement Wednesday.
McMullen said Wednesday that Kroger was committed to honoring existing labor contracts. The FTC's chief trial counsel, Susan Musser, said the merger still might affect working conditions because union contracts are typically renegotiated every three years.
Under the proposed deal, Kroger and Albertsons would sell 579 stores in places where their locations overlap to C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands.
The FTC alleges that C&S is ill-prepared to take on those stores. Laura Hall, the FTC's senior trial counsel, has cited internal documents that indicated C&S executives were skeptical about the quality of the stores they would get and may want the option to sell or close them.
C&S CEO Eric Winn, for his part, testified last week that he thinks his company can be successful in the venture.
The FTC is seeking an injunction to block the merger temporarily while its lawsuit against the deal goes before an administrative law judge. U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson was expected to hear from around 40 witnesses before deciding whether to grant the request.
If Nelson agrees to issue the injunction, the FTC plans to hold the in-house hearings starting Oct. 1. Kroger sued the FTC last month, however, alleging the agency's internal proceedings are unconstitutional and saying it wants the merger's merits decided in federal court.
The attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming all joined the FTC's lawsuit on the commission's side. Washington and Colorado filed separate cases in state courts seeking to block the merger.
Bureau of Land Management ordered to review plan for mine outside Deming - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A New Mexico federal district judge wants the Bureau of Land Management to correct part of a plan for a proposed mine in the Florida Mountains located southeast of Deming in Luna County.
In an Aug. 27 order, Judge James Browning found the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to determine how waste from a future magnesium milling operation might impact the area’s water quality.
Browning’s ruling sends the environment impact statement back to the Bureau of Land Management’s Las Cruces office to identify and evaluate what threats the sludge poses to water quality, lay out how it may be managed, and detail why the milling site should be approved “despite the waste.”
The judge wrote that the federal government did not have a proposal for “storage, control or disposal” for more than 2,300 tons of magnesium sludge – one of the waste products from mining.
The sludge contains toxic materials which pose a threat to surface water and underground aquifers, according to citations in the order.
“In sum, the BLM acted arbitrarily and capriciously in failing to take a hard look at the water quality impacts related to the Mining Project’s processing mill,” Browning wrote.
The ruling from the federal district court in New Mexico only supported one of the objections raised by community and environmental nonprofits in a lawsuit against the mine, but upheld the majority of the mining plan.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Friends of the Floridas, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, WildEarth Guardians, Gila Resources Information Project and Amigos Bravos.
The ruling rejected federal arguments that the Bureau of Land Management did not have to review issues, such as water quality, because of existing state regulations, said Sally Paez, one of the attorneys for New Mexico Wilderness Alliance in a news release.
“The court’s ruling is an important step toward protecting the Florida Mountains and surrounding public lands, which are biologically diverse and culturally significant,” Paez said in a news release.
Brian Hires, a Bureau of Land Management spokesperson, declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing litigation. Hires would not say if officials were considering an appeal of the ruling, and did not outline the next steps in the process for the federal land management agency.
The proposed mine and concerns in Luna County
In 2017, American Magnesium, a mining company based in Elephant Butte, proposed a dolomite magnesium quarry on 44 acres of federal land in the Florida Mountains with additional milling and processing facilities. The proposal is based on a 1957 study by the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
American Magnesium claims that the exposed dolomite magnesium in the Florida foothills would produce more than 30,000 tons of magnesium per year. It would also produce “hundreds of millions of tons” of portland cement, a byproduct of mining, according to the company.
On the American Magnesium website, the company claims its quarry would provide 18 jobs, and 25 trucking jobs and that the milling complex would provide an unknown number of jobs, listing hundreds to thousands.
Local opposition to the project has raised questions about the use of roads, mining and milling processes. There are also concerns that the project’s environmental assessment falls short of federal regulations, failing to account for water and air pollution concerns, which groups raised in the lawsuit.
Wes Light, president of the Friends of the Floridas, said he hopes for more public engagement due to Judge Browning’s order.
“Local folks are worried about the impacts of the ore processing, which the BLM did not adequately review,” Light said in a statement.
Friends of the Floridas is a Deming grassroots group created to protect the area’s public lands, Light said his group will be watching what’s next for the mine proposal.
“We expect a full public analysis of these impacts when the BLM complies with the Court’s order,” he said. “There should be no more mystery about where the wastes from this mine will end up.”
MORE ON THE MINERALS
Dolomite is a type of limestone, a type of calcium magnesium ore. It can be quarried for uses in building materials or concrete, but it also can be mined for the production of magnesium.
Magnesium is a lightweight metal used to construct planes and cars.
Boeing will fly its empty capsule back to Earth soon. Two NASA astronauts will stay behind - By Marcia Dunn, AP Aerospace Writer
Boeing will attempt to return its problem-plagued capsule from the International Space Station later this week — with empty seats.
NASA said Wednesday that everything is on track for the Starliner capsule to undock from the space station Friday evening. The fully automated capsule will aim for a touchdown in New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range six hours later.
NASA's two stuck astronauts who flew up on Starliner will remain behind at the orbiting lab. They'll ride home with SpaceX in February, eight months after launching on what should have been a weeklong test flight. Thruster trouble and helium leaks kept delaying their return until NASA decided that it was too risky for them to accompany Starliner back as originally planned.
"It's been a journey to get here and we're excited to have Starliner return," said NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich.
NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will close the hatches between Starliner and the space station on Thursday. They are now considered full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board, helping with experiments and maintenance, and ramping up their exercise to keep their bones and muscles strong during their prolonged exposure to weightlessness.
To make room for them on SpaceX's next taxi flight, the Dragon capsule will launch with two astronauts instead of the usual four. Two were cut late last week from the six-month expedition, which is due to blast off in late September. Boeing has to free up the parking place for SpaceX's arrival.
Boeing encountered serious flaws with Starliner long before its June 5 liftoff on the long-delayed astronaut demo.
Starliner's first test flight went so poorly in 2019 — the capsule never reached the space station because of software errors — that the mission was repeated three years later. More problems surfaced, resulting in even more delays and more than $1 billion in repairs.
The capsule had suffered multiple thruster failures and propulsion-system helium leaks by the time it pulled up at the space station after launch. Boeing conducted extensive thruster tests in space and on the ground, and contended the capsule could safely bring the astronauts back. But NASA disagreed, setting the complex ride swap in motion.
Starliner will make a faster, simpler getaway than planned, using springs to push away from the space station and then short thruster firings to gradually increase the distance. The original plan called for an hour of dallying near the station, mostly for picture-taking; that was cut to 20 or so minutes to reduce the stress on the capsule's thrusters and keep the station safe.
Additional test firings of Starliner's 28 thrusters are planned before the all-important descent from orbit. Engineers want to learn as much as they can since the thrusters won't return to Earth; the section containing them will be ditched before the capsule reenters.
The stuck astronauts — retired Navy captains — have lived on the space station before and settled in just fine, according to NASA officials. Even though their mission focus has changed, "they're just as dedicated for the success of human spaceflight going forward," flight director Anthony Vareha said.
Their blue Boeing spacesuits will return with the capsule, along with some old station equipment.
NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station after its shuttles retired. SpaceX accomplished the feat in 2020 and has since launched nine crews for NASA and four for private customers.