Boeing and NASA are once again “editing” the return home of two astronauts from the International Space Station on the Starliner.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were scheduled to remain on the ISS for just a week after docking there on June 6. They are now not expected to make the trip back to Earth until at least early July, after two planned spacewalks and ongoing evaluation of the reports. problems on the spacecraft, Boeing announced in a June 21 update.
The space agency has not announced a new return date after recently saying the astronauts could return on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here’s what we know.
Starliner return delayed by spacewalks, spacecraft problems reviewed
Moving the Starliner’s undocking and landing from Wednesday de-conflicts “a series of planned (ISS) spacewalks, while giving mission teams time to review propulsion system data,” the airline said in an update.
The spacewalks were scheduled for Monday and July 2, NASA and Boeing said, meaning the astronauts would not return until they were completed. Monday’s spacewalk was canceled due to a spacesuit problem. NASA has not yet said how this will affect the planned spacewalk schedule or whether it will further delay the astronauts’ return.
USA TODAY contacted Boeing, which forwarded the questions to NASA. USA TODAY contacted NASA Monday morning but has not yet received a response.
The crew is also investigating some issues with the Starliner spacecraft.
“We’re taking our time and following the Mission Management Team’s standard process,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. “We let the data guide our decision-making in relation to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking.”
Stitch also said that due to the length of the mission, an “agency-level review” would be necessary. He compared it to what was done before NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 returned after spending two months in orbit.
US spacewalk 90 canceled
Although NASA and Boeing moved the Starliner’s return to accommodate the spacewalks, US Spaceflight 90 was scrapped Monday morning due to a “water leak in the service and cooling unit on NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s spacesuit,” according to NASA.
The water leak was noticed after Dyson and astronaut Mike Barratt set their suits to battery power on Monday morning, NASA said.
The spacewalk was originally scheduled for June 14, but this attempt was delayed due to a “spacesuit discomfort issue”.
The spacewalk is planned to “remove a faulty electronics box from the communications antenna on the starboard beam of the space station,” NASA said. The astronauts would also collect samples for analysis to “understand the ability of microorganisms to survive and reproduce outside the orbiting laboratory,” according to the government agency.
Are astronauts stuck in space?
While the homecoming of Wilmore and Williams continues to be delayed, Boeing said there are plenty of supplies left for the astronauts and the station schedule is “relatively open until mid-August.” In the event of an emergency on the ISS, the Starliner is allowed to leave orbit and return to Earth, the company added.
Boeing added that the crew is “in no rush to leave” as the astronauts continue to assist with station operations as needed and complete additional NASA in-flight objectives.
“The feedback from the crew has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do in the crew flight test will improve and enhance our experience for future crews,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Starliner program. June 21 issue.
“The Starliner works well in orbit when it’s attached to the space station,” Stich said. “We are strategically using the extra time to clear the way for some critical station activities while finalizing preparations for Butch and Suni’s return to Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”
Boeing Starliner problems, including helium leaks
Helium leaks and a malfunctioning thrust valve prevented the Starliner from taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 5. The same issues seem to still be affecting the spacecraft weeks later.
There were a series of helium leaks in the Starliner’s propulsion system, Stich said during a June 18 media teleconference. So far, five leaks have been found since the Starliner was docked with the ISS, he added.
“The way forward is to continue to look at the helium system to try to understand what’s going on, look again at the simulations for the rest of the flight … and then the operational techniques to control the helium system,” Stich said.
Another issue is the faulty thrust valve, which is still out of order as of June 15, but Stich said the crew did not plan to use it during the return flight “out of an abundance of caution.” The valve is believed to have disconnected due to the extreme heat generated when the thruster system fired “in rapid succession” to keep the Starliner on course with the space station, Stich says.