Why NASA astronauts are ‘BLOGGED’ in space due to Boeing Starliner malfunction – as experts reveal a possible ‘Plan B’

The delayed return of NASA astronauts from the International Space Station due to a Boeing Starliner malfunction has raised concerns that the crew could be ‘stuck’.

While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s stay was recently extended to an unspecified date, experts told DailyMail.com that the delay is for them to analyze the service module while it is still in space.

“The service module doesn’t return to Earth, which means it can’t be recovered, and there’s no way they can analyze what the problem is,” said Scott Walter, who has a PhD in aerospace mechanical engineering. for DailyMail.com.

“The more time they have to correct it and run different tests, the better.”

Walter also noted that “nothing is off the table,” suggesting that NASA has already spoken with SpaceX about a possible rescue mission, and next month’s private Polaris Dawn spaceflight could 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 thrusters.

The structure is expected to jettison when the Starliner re-enters the atmosphere and will likely burn up, leaving NASA and Boeing without critical clues as to what caused the malfunction.

Michael Lembeck, an associate professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told DailyMail.com that NASA and Boeing are simply doing their homework.

“It’s too early to get to the root cause of the problem,” said Lembeck, who was a consultant for Boeing’s spaceflight division from 2008 to 2013.

He went on to explain that keeping the Starliner docked to the ISS is the only way to fully study the capsule.

DailyMail.com has contacted Boeing for comment.

“I would think that NASA is considering all contingencies in advance,” said Walter, who is the principal technical advisor for Visual Components in North America.

“They’ve already thought of these scenarios if one of these capsules gets stuck or something goes wrong — they’re not suddenly trying to figure it out.”

He went on to explain that NASA and SpaceX likely had a ‘behind the scenes’ discussion about the use of the Dragon capsule.

“I think there’s a Polaris Dawn mission with Jared Issacman that could potentially turn into a rescue mission,” Walter added.

“I’m sure he’d happily say go ahead.”

Issacman has funded the Polaris Dawn mission, set to launch on July 12, which will see 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, Starliner is fine to come home, but if they give up on that vehicle, then I think realistically NASA would just send Crew 9 with two crew members,” he said.

NASA pushed the return to June 14 and then again to June 26 before announcing the date was indefinite over the weekend.

Starliner had a known helium leak when it lifted off June 5 at 10:52 a.m. ET from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said last month that he was confident 27 of those 28 thrusters were working properly, with no leaks or other problems.

However, the Starliner encountered five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, five leaks of helium gas intended to pressurize those thrusters, and a slow-moving thrust valve that signaled unresolved past problems since launch.

When Starliner arrived at the space station for docking on June 6, five thruster failures prevented a close approach by the spacecraft until Boeing made a fix.

He rewrote the software and modified some procedures to revive four of them and continue docking.

The disassembly and return of Starliner to Earth represents the spacecraft’s most complicated phases of its test mission.

Boeing has spent $1.5 billion in cost overruns beyond its $4.5 billion NASA development contract.

NASA officials have said they want to better understand the cause of the thruster failures, valve problems and helium leaks before the Starliner begins its return.

While only one thruster has died on the Starliner’s current flight, Boeing encountered four thruster problems during the capsule’s uncrewed return from space in 2022.

Lembeck explained that the helium in the propellant works to turn the valves on and off.

There are seals on the valve which tend to show and the temperature changes experienced during a space flight mission can distort the seal

“This is the first run of a manned vehicle and every first flight has had problems,” Lembeck said.

“In Boeing’s defense, when they proposed the Starliner, NASA didn’t fully provide a budget plan and they had to make certain choices, but I’m not saying it resulted in these problems.”

He also predicted that the Starliner will likely return with Williams and Wilmore in the first or second week of July.

Rudy Ridolfi, a former space system commander and space technology acquisition manager, told DailyMail.com: ‘NASA will take a very conservative approach and Boeing’s return plan will be rolled up to Bill Nelson for final approval.

“There is no rush at this point. A failure by Boeing to return the two astronauts to the Starliner would almost certainly kill the program.’

The Starliner has a 45-day operational life, which would place its 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 final call,” Walter said.

“They will likely consult with NASA, and there’s no way the administration is going to put pressure on them to go back on it.”