Stacy Liberatore for Dailymail.com
June 27, 2024 at 5:15 p.m., updated June 27, 2024 at 5:16 p.m.
The delayed return of NASA astronauts from the International Space Station due to a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner has sparked fears that the crew could be “stranded”.
While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s stay was recently extended to an unspecified date, experts told DailyMail.com that the delay is to analyze the service module while it is still in space.
“The modular device service does not return to Earth, which means it cannot be recovered and there is no way they can analyze what the problem is,” Scott Walter, who has a PhD in mechanical aerospace engineering, told DailyMail.com.
“The more time they have to debug and run different tests, the better.”
Walter also noted that “nothing is off the table,” suggesting that NASA has already spoken to SpaceX about a potential rescue mission, and next month’s private Polaris Dawn spaceflight may also be part of the agency’s Plan B.
The service module, located near the bottom of the capsule, contains a total of 48 thrusters and four launch abort engines.
The structure is to be jettisoned when the Starliner re-enters the atmosphere and will likely burn up, leaving NASA and Boeing without critical data on what caused the failure.
Michael Lembeck, associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told DailyMail.com that NASA and Boeing are just doing their homework.
“It’s too early to pinpoint the root cause of the problem,” said Lembeck, who was a consultant to Boeing’s space flight division from 2008 to 2013.
Click here to resize this module
He went on to explain that keeping the Starliner docked with the ISS was the only way to fully study the capsule.
DailyMail.com has contacted Boeing for comment.
“I think NASA is considering all contingencies well in advance,” said Walter, who is a senior technical advisor for Visual Components North America.
“They’ve already thought through these scenarios if one of these pods gets stuck or something goes wrong – they’re not trying to solve it all at once.”
He went on to explain that NASA and SpaceX were likely “behind the scenes” discussing the use of the Dragon capsule.’
“I think there is a Polaris Dawn mission with Jared Issacman that could potentially turn into a rescue mission,” Walter added.
“I’m sure he’d be happy to say go for it.
Issacman funded the Polaris Dawn mission, which was scheduled to launch on July 12, to carry the first commercial spacewalk.
DailyMail.com asked Issacman if he would be willing to carry out an astronaut rescue mission, to which he said “officially no comment”.
“As far as I know, the Starliner is fine to come home, but if they were to give up the vehicle, then I think realistically, NASA would send a Crew 9 with two crew members,” he said.
NASA pushed the return to June 14 and then again to June 26 before the date was announced over the weekend.
Starliner had a known helium leak when it lifted off at 10:52 a.m. ET on June 5 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said last month that he was confident 27 of those 28 jets were working properly, with no leaks or other problems.
However, the Starliner experienced five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, five leaks of the helium gas intended to pressurize those thrusters, and a slow-moving propellant valve that signaled unresolved past problems since launch.
When the Starliner arrived at the space station for docking on June 6, five thruster failures prevented the spacecraft from making a close approach until Boeing made a repair.
He rewrote the software and tweaked some procedures to revive four of them and continue docking.
Detachment of the Starliner and return to Earth represent the most complex phases of the spacecraft’s test mission.
Boeing spent $1.5 billion in cost overruns over its $4.5 billion NASA development contract.
NASA officials said they want to better understand the cause of the thruster failure, valve problems and helium leaks before the Starliner begins its return.
While only one propeller remains dead in the Starliner’s current flight, Boeing has encountered four propeller problems during the unmanned capsule’s return from space in 2022.
Lembeck explained that the helium in the jets works by turning valves on and off.
There are seals on the valve that tend to look and the temperature changes that occur during a space flight mission can warp the seals
“It’s the first flight of a manned vehicle, and every first flight has had problems,” Lembeck said.
“In Boeing’s defense, when they designed the Starliner, NASA didn’t provide a full budget plan and they had to make some decisions, but I’m not saying that led to these problems.”
He also predicted that the Starliner would likely return with Williams and Wilmore in the first or second week of July.
Rudy Ridolfi, former Space System Commander and space technology acquisition manager, told DailyMail.com: “NASA will take a very conservative approach and the Boeing return plan will be presented to Bill Nelson for final approval.
“There is no rush at this point. Boeing’s failure to return the two astronauts in the Starliner would almost certainly destroy the program.’
The Starliner has a 45-day operational life, which would see it return in mid-July.
“The two astronauts are qualified test pilots, they have a lot of experience, they are veterans in space and they make the final call on whether the vehicle is safe or not – the pilot always makes the last call,” Walter said.
“They’re probably consulting with NASA, and there’s no way the administration is going to pressure them to go back on it.”