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In a press talk earlier today, NASA appears to be more 'open' towards bringing astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on SpaceX's Crew Dragon. NASA's associate administrator for space operations Ken Bowersoxx shared that the agency is "getting more serious about evaluating our other options," including bringing Williams and Wilmore home on SpaceX's Crew Dragon.

The agency's commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, added that NASA has worked with SpaceX to ensure that it can work with NASA in case the astronauts must be brought back on the Crew 9 Dragon that is currently slated to lift off next month. However, the agency still believes that in case of an emergency on the ISS, the best course of action will be to bring the crew back in Starliner.

Related Story Boeing Shares Long List Of Tests & Simulations It Has Run To Bring Crew Home On Starliner

NASA & Boeing Currently Analyzing Thruster Teflon To Determine Behavior During Return

While NASA is now working with SpaceX to keep its options open to bringing the crew home on a Dragon spacecraft, Bowersoxx added later that this analysis is part of options that could also lead to future work "where we need to bring a Dragon crew or a Soyuz crew back on a Starliner." The key variable holding NASA back from bringing Wilmore and Williams is the "uncertainty bound" for the data for the ship's propulsion and thruster systems.

Stich provided more color for this 'bound' when he explained the work NASA and Boeing are doing and the agency's SpaceX contingency. According to him, the key factor currently limiting NASA's decision is the Teflon seal in the thruster system that initially stopped fuel flow and led to a thrust loss.

The NASA official explained that not only were all thrusters fired during a hot fire test last weekend at nominal levels, but the one in which NASA saw the most