Last month a pair of astronauts went up into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, headed to the International Space Station. Due to issues that popped up as they approached the station, its not clear when the astronauts will be able to return home.
“NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6, after lifting off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5,” said NASA. “Since their arrival, the duo has been integrated with the Expedition 71 crew, performing scientific research and maintenance activities as needed.”
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Boeing has been in the news often recently due to issues related to its commercial jets.
“Williams is a 58-year-old former Naval test pilot with experience flying over 30 different aircraft, said the outlet. She’s logged 322 days in space over two missions since her first flight in 2007,” Audacy reported in May. “Wilmore, 61, is a retired Navy captain. He’s logged 178 days in space since his first of two space missions in 2009.”
According to NASA, the Starliner issues were related to propulsion system performance and small helium leaks in the spacecraft’s service module. This weekend, NASA and Boeing are planning to conduct a hot fire test to demonstrate the spacecraft’s thruster performance.
“The first docked hot fire test occurred on June 15,” said the space agency. “The upcoming test will allow checks of the helium leaks while also verifying the thrusters are operating as expected.”
Testing is conducted at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. It includes firing the engine under conditions like those the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station.
“The tests… included various stress-case scenarios to simulate the conditions expected during Starliner’s undocking and deorbit burn, which will position the spacecraft for landing in the southwestern United States,” said NASA.
According to a report from NPR, NASA teams believe they might have discovered the source of the helium leaks, and the “weirdness” with the thrusters. Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for the Commercial Crew Program at Boeing said degrading of internal seals due to the way the thrusters fire in space is likely the root cause of the latter issue.
NPR said Starliner has enough battery to stay in space through September. If the crew can’t get home by then, NASA has contingency plans like bringing them home in a SpaceX capsule, said the outlet.
Audacy reported in May that Wilmore and Williams were supposed to travel to the International Space Station last summer. However, major issues with the craft resulted in a delay, as reported by Ars Technica. According to the May report, the astronauts were expected to arrive at the space station that month for a week-long stay.
“Wilmore and Williams are expected to return to Earth during a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States,” it said.
Leadership from both NASA and Boeing provided an update on the Starliner Crew Flight Test during a news conference Thursday. An announcement from NASA that day said the integrated Starliner team also continued to assess the spacecraft’s propulsion system performance. Wilmore and Williams are now expected to complete these assessments and other tasks before scheduling an undocking from the International Space Station and return to Earth.
“Teams are in the process of taking apart this thruster to conduct physical inspections. Initial findings show degraded thruster performance, which aligns with what has been observed in orbit,” NASA said.
Another step to complete before the astronauts can return to Earth is an agency-level readiness review. NASA said this review will be conducted no earlier than next week. Once it is completed, mission leadership are expected to finalize a plan for a normal return to Earth and select a targeted undocking date for the Starliner aircraft.
NASA is also planning to air a televised briefing following the review.
In the meantime, Wilmore and Williams will “continue to provide additional crew time and valuable contributions aboard the space station, assisting with science investigations and helping ground teams collect critical data for post-certification, long-duration Starliner flights to the orbiting complex,” it said.
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