NASA astronauts will spend an unexpected 4th of July on the International Space Station

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore unexpectedly spent the Fourth of July aboard the International Space Station — but it was hardly a patriotic display of engineering prowess.

Two NASA astronauts docked at an orbiting lab on June 6 for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission, but their return home may be delayed by months in what has become a star-crossed test flight for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule.

Not only was the launch of the spacecraft with astronauts on board repeatedly delayed due to a number of problems, but NASA and Boeing are proceeding with caution in the pair’s return to Earth, mainly due to five thrusters that malfunctioned during docking.

Four of the small engines that drive the craft in space are now working properly, but engineers have no clear idea of ​​what caused the shutdown, so they decided to conduct ground tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, NASA. officials said. The tests will run the Starliner shuttle in a replicated space environment.

The delay will also allow engineers to further study a helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion system, which was first detected before launch and worsened when the Starliner reached the space station roughly 250 miles above Earth. The gas is used to pressurize the Starliner’s propulsion system.

However, both the company and the space agency stressed at a news conference earlier this week that the astronauts were not stranded in space and could board the Starliner and return to Earth immediately if an emergency aboard the space station occurred.

“We are not stuck on the ISS. There is no danger to the crew and no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s commercial crew program manager.

Ken Bowersox, NASA’s associate administrator, said the delay would allow more data to be collected and that there was no rush to return the astronauts. “We have the luxury of time,” he said.

Before launch, NASA said the batteries aboard the Starliner were rated for 45 days, but during a press conference they said they were working well and would last another 45 days. On regular missions to service the station, the Starliner would remain docked for six months.

NASA and Boeing also won’t have a chance to examine the thrusters or investigate the helium leak when the Starliner returns because the propulsion system is jettisoned before returning to Earth.

However, the desire to conduct ground tests, which are expected to take weeks, has again highlighted how far Arlington, Va.-based Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company, lags behind Elon Musk’s Hawthorne startup SpaceX — at least in the space station manning program. .

Both companies were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts to develop their craft in 2014, and as of 2020, Elon Musk’s Hawthorne has flown more than half a dozen crews to the station aboard its Crew Dragon capsule — while Boeing has only managed two distant flights, including one. the first to fail to enter orbit and the second in May 2022 to dock with an orbiting laboratory.

The current mission, with astronauts on board, was due to take off last year but was delayed due to the need to replace the flammable tape used extensively in the Starliner and a second problem with the parachute system that will slow its descent for a ground landing in the southwest.

This year’s May 6 launch date was then repeatedly postponed, first due to a malfunctioning valve on the Atlas V rocket that launches the Starliner into space. The booster rocket is manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Other launch dates were missed due to a helium leak believed to be caused by a single faulty seal, so software fixes were developed to work around this – but more leaks occurred after launch. But NASA and Boeing officials say the craft has 10 times more helium than it needs to return to Earth.

Boeing has reportedly had to absorb $1.5 billion in Starliner cost overruns, even as it continues to grapple with the fallout from two crashes of its 737 Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019.

The company is considering whether to plead guilty to fraud charges over allegations it misled regulators who approved the new, larger version of the 737, including how much flight training pilots would need, according to the Associated Press.

Boeing also announced plans this week to acquire Spirit AeroSystems, a key supplier it spun off in 2005 as it moved to outsource more work on its commercial jets. Spirit delivered the fuselage of Alaska Airline Max 9, which experienced a panel explosion on Jan. 5 en route to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County. Boeing’s CEO called the acquisition “in the best interest of the flying public.”

Meanwhile, SpaceX won a NASA contract last month worth up to $843 million to build a spacecraft that will guide the International Space Station out of orbit so it can burn up in the atmosphere when it is decommissioned in 2030.

Bloomberg reported last month that the privately held company is now valued at a record $210 billion after the company’s tender offer to insiders priced the stock at $112.

If the Starliner is certified, dismantling the space station would leave the spacecraft with only a few regular service flights, prompting speculation that Boeing may end the program.

But the company says it has plans for the Starliner to serve the Orbital Reef space station, which is being developed by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.