When two veteran NASA astronauts launched into a plane Test drive Boeing’s new space shuttleThey are expected to return home from the International Space Station in about a week.
It’s three weeks and counting now. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams like NASA and Boeing troubleshoot Device problem it appeared on the way there.
Three potential landing dates were canceled and their return flight was postponed. Officials said Friday No need to rush to bring them home and more testing will be done first.
“I want to be clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager.
Stich said astronauts could use the capsule if there was an emergency on the space station and they needed to escape quickly.
The long-delayed test flight was the first with astronauts on board. Boeing will finally get involved SpaceX in shuttling crews to and from the space station for NASA.
Why was the Starliner’s return trip delayed?
When the return trip was postponed, NASA said it wanted more time to analyze problems in the spacecraft’s propulsion system, used for in-flight control. The propulsion system was attached to the capsule, but it did not return to Earth for inspection. It was left behind during re-entry and burned.
The space agency also said it did not want the launch to conflict with spacewalks. But Monday’s spacewalk has been postponed. after water leaked from an astronaut’s spacesuit while she was still at the orbiting laboratory. A spacewalk scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed until late July while the leak is investigated.
What issues are being investigated?
Five of the capsule’s 28 thrusters stopped working during docking, as the capsule approached the space station. NASA said all but one thruster was restarted and they operated during a subsequent firing test. Officials suspect that heat from all the thruster operations while connected caused the shutdown. The only faulty thruster was shut down.
Stich said more ground-based propulsion tests will be performed before a return date is set.
The capsule launched on June 5 with one small helium leak, but four other leaks occurred when it reached the space station. Helium is used to pressurize fuel for the thrusters, and a defective rubber gasket is suspected to have caused the initial leak. Officials say there are ample supplies of helium, and Boeing says the leaks are stable and not of concern.
“We understand these issues to get back to safety,” said Boeing program manager Mark Nappi. “We don’t understand these issues well enough to fix them permanently.”
What’s next?
Stich said it would take several weeks to test the thrusters in the New Mexico desert. Officials initially said the capsule could stay at the space station for 45 days because of its onboard batteries, but said Friday it could be extended.
Wilmore and Williams are taking on housework and research duties at the space station, along with the task of testing systems on the Boeing spacecraft. Both had previously worked at the space station. NASA said there are plenty of supplies at the space station for the pair and seven long-term residents.
