This NASA photo shows the Starliner spacecraft attached to the Harmony module of the International Space Station on June 13. (The Associated Press)
Two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) for an extended stay while engineers address issues with their Boeing capsule. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were initially scheduled to return in mid-June after spending about a week at the space station. However, due to problems with Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, their return has been delayed.
The Starliner capsule has been experiencing technical difficulties, including thruster malfunctions and helium leaks. These issues emerged shortly after the capsule’s launch on June 6. As a result, NASA and Boeing decided to keep Wilmore and Williams at the ISS until the problems are resolved.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, stated that there is no set return date for the astronauts yet. He mentioned that the priority is to ensure that the Starliner is safe for their journey back. “We’ll come home when we’re ready,” Stich said, emphasizing the importance of addressing the technical issues thoroughly before making any decisions.
NASA is also considering backup plans if necessary. SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which has been successfully transporting astronauts since 2020, could serve as an alternative means to return the astronauts if the issues with Starliner are not resolved in time. “NASA always has contingency options,” Stich noted.
Last week, engineers conducted tests on a spare thruster in the New Mexico desert to understand the issues affecting the Starliner capsule. Five thrusters failed during the capsule’s approach to the ISS. Since then, four of these thrusters have been reactivated. The current suspicion is that degraded seals are causing both the helium leaks and thruster failures, though further analysis is required.
Mark Nappi from Boeing explained that engineers will test-fire the capsule’s thrusters while it is docked to the space station to gather more data. Each of the capsule’s 28 manoeuvring thrusters is about the size of a hand and weighs approximately 1 kilogram. Larger engines, used for re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, are discarded after each flight, which means there is nothing left to study for future missions.
After retiring the space shuttles, NASA contracted private companies like Boeing and SpaceX to provide astronaut transportation to the ISS, investing billions of dollars in these partnerships. The Starliner mission was Boeing’s first crewed test flight. Its previous uncrewed demo in 2019 failed to reach the ISS due to software issues, leading to a repeat test in 2022. Despite these efforts, additional problems have surfaced.
SpaceX, on the other hand, has been successfully ferrying astronauts since 2020. However, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets have recently faced a stand-down due to an upper-stage failure on a satellite mission. This grounding could potentially delay upcoming crew flights.
