The crew of the Boeing Starliner, which is stranded at the International Space Station due to mechanical problems with the spacecraft, are not “stranded” in space, despite the return to Earth being indefinitely delayed, NASA officials said.
Starliner Commander Butch Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams have been holed up aboard the space station for weeks since launching on June 5 as Boeing’s first crewed spaceflight.
The spacecraft was scheduled to return on June 13 after a week-long stay at the station, but experienced thruster and helium leak issues while docked with the station and will remain in orbit indefinitely while engineers analyze the problem.
“We don’t have a set date set for landing today,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, told reporters on a conference call. CBS reported“We won’t put a specific date on it until testing is complete.
“So, we’ll basically complete the testing, complete the fault tree, bring that analysis to (the mission management team) for review at the agency level, and then we’ll develop the rest of the plan from undocking to landing. I think we’re on track.”
The Starliner spacecraft’s return module is docked to the ISS’s Harmony module, but Harmony has limited fuel, shortening its return date.
Boeing’s service module, which houses helium lines, thrusters and other vital systems, will be discarded before re-entry and will burn up in the atmosphere, according to CBS.
Engineers want to study failed systems and hardware before they are destroyed, and to gather as much data as possible before the astronauts return home.
Stich and Boeing’s Starliner program manager, Mark Nappi, insisted that Wilmore and Williams were never left behind or in danger, despite how the media portrayed the situation.
“It’s very painful to read the news out there,” Nappi said. “We had a really good test flight and it’s been looked at quite negatively. We’re not confined to the ISS. The crew is not at risk and there will be no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.”
“I want to make it clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” Stitch added.
“Our plan is to bring them back on Starliner and have them return at the appropriate time,” he confirmed. “There is a little bit more work to be done before they can finally return, but they are safe on the space station. Their spacecraft is functioning well and they are enjoying their time on the space station.”
Starliner launched with one known helium leak, but four more leaks occurred when the spacecraft attempted to dock. Aboard the station, valves have been closed to shut off the helium system and prevent further leaks.
But when it was time to depart, the valves would need to be reopened to build up pressure in the lines again, CBS reported.
Despite the leak, the capsule still has 10 times the amount of helium needed for return, but engineers want to make sure the leak doesn’t get worse after the system is pressurized, Stich said.
Five thrusters on Starliner’s service module also did not fire as expected during approach to the space station on June 6, but are ready to fire upon departure.
Starting next week, identical new thrusters will be test fired at a NASA facility in New Mexico to find out what went wrong.
Ground testing is expected to last “several weeks.”
Boeing has been plagued by a series of problems in recent years. In January, a fuselage plug on an Alaska Airlines new Boeing 737 MAX-9 jet blew off at an altitude of 10,000 feet. The company’s 737 MAX planes have also been involved in crashes in 2018 and 2019.