During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they have a contingency plan to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they’re unable to leave sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there, the backup plan would rely on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, which has had its launch delayed while officials figure out what to do next.

After a successful crewed launch of the Boeing Starliner on June 5th (following several delays), the two astronauts were originally supposed to spend about a week aboard the ISS before parachuting back to Earth. But the Starliner experienced thruster failures and helium leaks while docking with the ISS, plus additional delays that have left the astronauts stuck in orbit for over two months while Boeing and NASA try to determine if the vehicle is still safe to use.

The June crewed test flight was originally scheduled to take place seven years ago, and Boeing’s Starliner program has experienced significant delays and cost overruns. If SpaceX ends up having to bring the two astronauts back to Earth, it’s just one more misstep for Boeing in a year that included a door plug exploding out from one of its planes during a flight and pleading guilty to a criminal fraud charge.

Tests conducted at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility pointed to deformed Teflon seals being a potential cause of the Starliner’s thrusters failing, but the agency isn’t expected to make a final decision on whether or not Williams and Wilmore will return using Boeing’s spacecraft until mid-August.

Using Starliner is still NASA’s preferred solution, according to officials, but the backup plan would see SpaceX send just two astronauts to the ISS aboard a late September Crew-9 launch, leaving two spots available for Williams and Wilmore to use to return in February of next year. Should that happen, Boeing will reconfigure the Starliner craft so that it can return to Earth uncrewed ahead of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch.

Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

– How the US used AI to take on the Taliban amid drawdown

– Elon Musk sues OpenAI, Sam Altman again

– AI fast-tracks dementia diagnoses by tapping into ‘hidden information’ in brain waves

TALIBAN TRACKER: Many have questioned the lessons learned from the 20-year war in Afghanistan following the chaotic withdrawal and subsequent Taliban takeover, but one major accomplishment from the U.S.’s time fighting the Taliban has emerged – the use of Artificial Intelligence to track terrorist attacks.

ROUND TWO: Billionaire Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its leadership once again, weeks after withdrawing a previous suit against the artificial intelligence startup he co-founded in 2015.

AI may have promising uses for detecting dementia earlier. (iStock)

BRAINSTORM : As dementia becomes more widespread, Mayo Clinic researchers believe that artificial intelligence is the key to enabling earlier and faster diagnoses.

GOT THE MOVES: Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a humanoid robot that can perform a variety of expressive movements while maintaining its balance on different terrains.

Expressive humanoid robot  (University of California San Diego)

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Roku is preparing to launch a new 24/7 sports channel across its devices, apps, and on its website. Starting on August 12th, the new Roku Sports Channel will start showing sports-themed content that includes live events and original content.

Joe Franzetta, who heads Roku’s sports division, describes the channel as a “curated always-on channel that leads our viewer through the wide variety of premium sports content available for free on The Roku Channel.”

The most “premium” of those will be Sunday Leadoff, the live Major League Baseball games Roku got in a broadcast deal with the MLB earlier this year. But the channel will also feature live Formula E races and other sports broadcasts, including archival boxing matches, NBA G League (minor league basketball) games, and “high-stakes poker entertainment from PokerGO.”

The channel’s originals will include shows like NFL Draft: The Pick Is In and WWE: Next Gen. Folks who want to check it out can do so for free on Roku devices and TVs, the Roku channel site, and in the Roku app on various devices like other smart TVs and iOS and Android phones.