Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will remain stuck at the International Space Station with two astronauts on board even longer than expected, as the company and NASA scramble to fix problems with its thrusters and plug helium leaks.
Aerospace company and NASA officials announced Tuesday that the spacecraft is not expected to return until at least June 26. It was originally scheduled to return on June 14 and was pushed back to June 22 last week.
Officials say they are spending more time investigating five helium leaks in the propeller system, as well as problems with several thrusters used to maneuver the spacecraft.
“We’re taking a little more time to analyze what we’ve seen and make sure we have all the plans in place to bring the crew home,” Steve Stich, NASA program manager, said at a news conference. on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be stuck on the International Space Station for even longer as Boeing and NASA try to fix problems with their spacecraft.
But by June 26, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would have spent about 20 days in space, more than double the roughly eight days they had originally planned.
The crew has at least four months’ worth of food and other consumables, NASA officials said.
Starliner can also transport crew members back to Earth in an emergency, according to Stich.
But the spacecraft can only remain docked at the ISS for a total of 45 days due to fuel shortages at the orbiting laboratory, and Mike Leinbach, former space shuttle launch director at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, says the Mission administrators will not. Allow the spacecraft to return to Earth with astronauts on board if this could pose any risk to them.
“This one has a few more problems than I would have expected,” he said, according to the Journal.
“We were hoping for a clean flight, but we didn’t get it and we’re dealing with it,” he said, reassuring reporters: “They’ll figure it out.”
The crew has enough food rations to last at least four months on the International Space Station
But it’s still unclear what NASA has planned if 45 days go by without the problems being resolved, but some experts have suggested it may have to turn to Boeing’s rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, to rescue the astronauts and bring them back. to home.
“The good news is that they are on the ISS and not like Apollo 13 trying to return home from the moon,” Rudy Ridolfi, former space system commander and space technology acquisition manager, told DailyMail.com.
“But I wouldn’t be surprised if someone at NASA was preparing a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a rescue mission.”
Mike Gruntman, a professor of astronautics at the University of Southern California, also stated that “it is more likely that SpaceX will be able to conduct an additional launch in the foreseeable future to bring back the astronauts.”
“It is very unfortunate that Boeing’s Starliner, after such a delay in its flight, continues to have problems,” Gruntman continued.
‘For decades, Boeing was one of the most admired aerospace and defense companies. “It is a true national tragedy.”
He went on to suggest that the problems Starliner is facing may be due to manufacturing issues at the scandal-plagued aerospace company.
“Multiple similar problems (helium leaks) with apparently similar components, as reported in the press, point to a systemic problem with the design or workmanship or testing or engineering of the system or a combination of both,” he explained. Gruntman.
Problems with the Starliner arose even before it lifted off with astronauts earlier this month.
Crews detected one valve leaking helium in May, and four more just hours after takeoff.
Boeing and NASA officials first noticed problems with the Starliner even before it took off with astronauts earlier this month.
It has faced years of delays, setbacks and additional expenses that have cost Boeing more than $1 billion. CNN reports.
Starliner was then scheduled to launch on May 6, but teams detected a valve leaking helium and canceled the mission.
Engineers suspected the problem was due to a faulty rubber seal the size of a shirt button, and said that even if the leak worsens, it could be fixed in flight, and they set the next launch for June 1.
However, Starliner suffered bad luck again when the capsule was automatically stopped a few minutes before takeoff using a computer abort system.
The postponement was caused by computers on the Atlas V rocket’s launch pad coordinating the final moments before liftoff, but the Starliner capsule appeared healthy, officials said.
The Starliner lifted off from Florida on a United Launch Alliance Altas V rocket on June 5.
It finally lifted off from Florida aboard a United Launch Alliance Altas V rocket on June 5.
But just hours after separating from the Atlas rocket, NASA revealed that the capsule had had two more leaks.
A fourth leak was found after docking on June 6 and the most recent on June 10.
In addition to the helium leaks, five boosters temporarily failed during the flight, but four returned to service. The fifth was closed for the remainder of the mission, the Journal reports.
Wilmore and Williams are now running several tests on the spacecraft, which they say have gone well and give the team confidence that the spacecraft is recovering.
He and other officials say there is no reason to believe the Starliner will not be able to bring astronauts home, since the helium leaks and propellant problems occurred in a part of the ship that is not intended to survive. the journey home from space. .
Mark Nappi, director of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program, also says there is now “good thruster performance,” as the company tries to present the problems with the Starliner as a learning experience.
It has a contract with NASA to make six more crewed flights to the space station.
“It is more nominal and the (helium) leaks show that they are stable and lower than before,” Nappi said. “This leads us to believe that we have a good, safe spacecraft.”
Boeing has a contract with NASA to carry out six more manned flights to the ISS
Boeing executives are now hopeful that a successful return on June 26 can prove their value to the space agency, after a series of problems with its separate commercial aircraft division.
A Boeing plane experienced a rare Dutch roll at 32,000 feet mid-flight last month, causing the plane to be taken out of service.
That same month, Singapore Airlines flight SQ321 experienced deadly “turbulence” related to approaching tropical storms.
And just last week, an Air Canada Boeing plane burst into flames seconds after takeoff.
If all goes well in this latest test from the aerospace company, Starliner’s Calypso capsule would undock from the ISS at 10:10 p.m. ET on June 25.
After undocking, Starliner will re-enter the atmosphere, and the crew will experience 3.5G as they slow from 17,500 miles per hour to a soft landing assisted by parachutes and airbags.
They would then land at the White Sands Spaceport in the southwestern United States on June 26 around 4:51 a.m. Eastern Time.