expository
A series of problems with the new Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft has delayed their return from the International Space Station.
Two NASA-trained astronauts who were testing Boeing’s new CST-100 Starliner spacecraft have been forced to stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting Earth about 400 km (250 miles) after experiencing difficulties technical with their spaceship.
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 Force Station in Florida on June 5. But the Starliner has been plagued with problems, even before its June 5 launch. A previous launch attempt was aborted on June 1 just moments before liftoff 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 malfunctioning thruster. Then, when Starliner arrived on June 6 and attempted to dock with the ISS, another four of the 28 thrusters malfunctioned, delaying the shuttle’s arrival.
According to a Boeing spokesman, four of the five thrusters that previously malfunctioned are now operating normally. “This means that only one thruster out of 27 is currently offline. This does not pose a problem for the return mission,” the spokesman added.
Who are the two astronauts stuck in space?
Sunita “Suni” Williams is an American astronaut and US Navy officer who joined NASA in 1998. Williams made her first space flight on the ISS to service the solar panels that generate electricity on the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-116) in December 2006, when she was a flight engineer. Her 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 for 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 records for the longest spaceflight by a woman (195 days) and is the former holder of of the record seven spacewalks, when astronauts step outside a spaceship, by a female astronaut. This was broken only 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 on 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 space flight was aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-129) in November 2009 as part of a mission to deliver spare parts to the ISS. He served as flight engineer for Expedition 41 in May 2014 to study the effects on the body and plant growth during weightlessness. He was also the commander of Expedition 42 to study how space affects immune cells and to observe pollution in 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 problems with the thrusters that derailed Starliner’s initial attempt to dock with the ISS on June 6.
Steven Hirshorn, NASA’s chief aeronautical engineer, took to his LinkedIn page to clarify some of the issues on the Starliner. “The problems reported on Starliner, namely the feedback control thruster and helium leaks in the propulsion system, are all located in the spacecraft’s service module,” he explained. “When the crew is launched from the ISS and deorbits, the service module ejects and burns up in the atmosphere during re-entry. Thus, the helium systems and propellants will not be returned to Earth for failure analysis. They are gone. As such, the only way to get an insight into what might be going on there is in space.”
When will stranded astronauts return to Earth?
According to NASA, the Starliner can be docked to the ISS for up to 45 days, or a maximum of 72 days if it uses a backup system.
Last week, NASA announced that it intends to return sometime in early July. NASA stated that additional time was needed for mission teams on the ISS to thoroughly investigate issues with the propulsion system.
“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said in a statement earlier this week. “We are allowing the data to guide our decision-making regarding the management of the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking.”