Summary
- Two astronauts who flew a Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station stayed there longer than expected.
- NASA pushed back the date of their return trip to Earth to Friday after several earlier delays.
- The reason for the changes is to investigate problems with the spacecraft that occurred earlier in the flight.
Two NASA astronauts who flew a Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station earlier this month have stayed in orbit much longer than expected — and will continue to do so, NASA and Boeing say.
The original plan for this first crewed Starliner test flight called for veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to spend about a week on the space station before taking the capsule back to Earth. They arrived at the orbital base on June 6.
However, their return journey was postponed several times. NASA initially listed June 18 as the earliest date the astronauts could return, then the agency said the return flight would take place on June 22. That was then changed to June 26, and the latest delay, announced on Friday, pushed the planned landing back to a yet-to-be-determined new date.
The reason for the adjustments, according to NASA, is an investigation into problems with the capsule that occurred earlier in the flight. The spacecraft’s propulsion system has a slow leak of helium — something mission managers knew about before launch. At the time, they said it was unlikely to affect the test flight or astronaut safety, but four more helium leaks were detected once the spacecraft entered orbit.
As the Starliner approached the space station on June 6, five of its thrusters also failed, delaying final approach by just over an hour.
NASA and Boeing officials said they continue to monitor the issues as they plan to return the capsule.
“We’re taking our time and following a standard mission management team,” 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.”
The Starliner’s test flight to the International Space Station is intended to demonstrate that the vehicle can safely transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and evaluate its various systems in space.
The launch of the capsule also faced many delays before it finally took off on June 5 – years behind schedule.
NASA officials indicated in a blog post that while no date has yet been set for the astronauts’ return, it could occur after a planned spacewalk to the International Space Station on July 2.
The space station has enough supplies for visitors and there is no rush to depart, officials said.
Stich said NASA will conduct a full review before permission is given to detach the capsule.
Wilmore and Williams currently live on the ISS with seven crew members who have already been there: NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy Dyson and Jeanette Epps and Russian cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin and Oleg Kononenko.
During their extended stay in space, Wilmore and Williams are assisting with tasks on the space station and conducting additional tests as part of NASA’s process to certify the Starliner for future missions.
“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. declaration.
Boeing hopes to eventually conduct routine flights to and from the space station for NASA, similar to the commercial service SpaceX has been providing the agency with its Crew Dragon capsule since 2020.