EXPLANATION
A series of problems with the new Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft has delayed its return from the International Space Station.
Two NASA-trained astronauts testing Boeing’s new CST-100 Starliner spacecraft were forced to stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth about 400 km (250 miles) after encountering technical difficulties with their spacecraft.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were originally scheduled to return to Earth on June 13, after their Boeing Starliner capsule launched its first crewed flight from the Cape Canaveral space station in Florida on June 5. Launching June 5. A previous launch attempt was aborted on June 1 moments before launch due to a ground control computer performance problem.
During the 25-hour flight to the International Space Station, the spacecraft experienced several helium leaks and a faulty propellant. Then, when the Starliner arrived on June 6 and attempted to dock with the ISS, four more of the 28 thrusters malfunctioned, delaying the ship’s arrival.
According to a Boeing spokesperson, four of the five propellers that previously malfunctioned are now functioning normally. “This means that only one thruster out of 27 is currently offline. This does not pose a problem for the return mission,” added the spokesperson.
Who are the two astronauts stuck in space?
Sunita “Suni” Williams is an American astronaut and United States Navy officer who joined NASA in 1998. Williams made her first spaceflight to the ISS to maintain the electricity-producing solar panels on the space shuttle Discovery ( STS-116) in December 2006, when she was a flight engineer. His second mission in May 2012 as a flight engineer was on Expedition 32 to the ISS to test a new microsatellite deployment system. After completing other missions, Williams was one of the first astronauts selected to train under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in 2015.
Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space so far and is best known for her missions aboard the ISS, where she set the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman (195 days) and is the former record holder for seven spacewalks, when astronauts exit a spacecraft, by a female astronaut. This was only broken by Peggy Whitson in 2017. Whitson has now completed 10 spacewalks.
Williams has received several awards, including the Legion of Merit, the Navy Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Humanitarian Service Medal.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore flew aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis to deliver parts to the ISS in November 2009 and served as ISS Commander from November 2014 to March 2015.
Wilmore’s first spaceflight was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) in November 2009 on a mission to deliver spare parts to the ISS. He served as a flight engineer for Expedition 41 in May 2014 to study the effects on the body and plant growth in zero gravity. He also commanded Expedition 42 to study the impact of space on immune cells and to observe pollution of the Earth’s atmosphere in 2014.
Wilmore has also received numerous awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the NASA Space Flight Medal.
What is Boeing doing for stranded astronauts?
NASA and Boeing are using the astronauts’ extra time aboard the ISS to further evaluate the thruster issues that disrupted the Starliner’s initial attempt to dock with the ISS on June 6.
Steven Hirshorn, NASA’s chief aeronautical engineer, realized this LinkedIn page to clarify some of the issues on the Starliner. “The problems reported on the Starliner, namely the reaction control thruster and helium leaks in the propulsion system, are all localized to the spacecraft’s service module,” he explained. “When the crew leaves the ISS and deorbits, the service module is discarded and burns up in the atmosphere upon re-entry. Thus, the helium systems and thrusters will not return to earth to analyze failures. They left. As such, the only way to get a glimpse of what might be happening there is in space.
When will stranded astronauts return to Earth?
According to NASA, the Starliner can be docked with the ISS for up to 45 days, or up to 72 days if you use a backup system.
Last week, NASA announced that it planned to return in early July. She added that ISS mission teams needed additional time to thoroughly investigate problems with the propulsion system.
“We are taking our time and following our mission management team’s standard process,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said in a statement earlier this week. “We are letting the data guide our decision-making regarding the management of small leaks from the helium system and the performance of the thrusters that we observed during rendezvous and docking.”
