NASA officials said that despite an indefinite delay in their return to Earth, the crew of the Boeing Starliner stranded on the International Space Station due to mechanical problems with their spacecraft are not “stuck” in space.
Starliner commander Butch Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams were confined to the space station weeks after their June 5 launch on Boeing’s first manned space flight.
They were due to return on June 13 after a week on the station, but the craft had problems with its thrusters and a helium leak upon docking with the station, keeping them in orbit indefinitely while engineers analyzed the problems.
“We don’t have a (landing) date set for today,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said during a teleconference, CBS reported. “We will not set a specific date until we have completed this testing.”
“So basically it’s completing the testing, completing the fault tree, getting that analysis into the (mission management team) and then agency-level review.” And then we’ll lay out the rest of the plan from takeoff to landing. I think we’re on the right track.”
The Starliner spacecraft’s return module is attached to the Harmony module on the ISS, but Harmony has limited fuel, narrowing the window for a return date.
The Boeing’s service module, which houses the helium lines, thrusters and other critical systems, ejected before re-entry and burned up in the atmosphere, according to CBS.
Engineers want to study the damaged systems and hardware before they are destroyed and gather as much data as possible before the astronauts return home.
Stitch and Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner program manager, insisted that Wilmore and Williams were in no way stranded or in danger, despite the media’s characterization of what was happening.
“It’s pretty painful to read the things that are out there,” Nappi said. “We got a really good test flight … and it’s viewed quite negatively. We are not stuck on the ISS. The crew is not in danger and there is no increased risk when we decide to return Sunny and Butch to Earth.
Stitch added that he wanted to “make it clear that Butch and Sunny are not stranded in space.
“Our plan is to continue to bring them back with the Starliner and bring them home at the right time,” he assured. “We’ll have to do some more work to get there for the final return, but they’re safe on the space station. Their spaceship is working well and they are enjoying their time on the space station.
The Starliner launched with one known helium leak, but four others developed as the ship attempted to dock. At the station, the valves are closed to cut off the helium system, avoiding further leakage.
When they leave, however, the valves must be reopened to restore pressure in the lines, CBS reported.
Even with the known leaks, the capsule still has 10 times the amount of helium it needs to get home — but engineers want to make sure the leaks don’t get worse once the system is pressurized, according to Stich.
The five thrusters in the Starliner Service Module also failed to operate as expected during the June 6 approach to the space station, but are ready to operate for departure.
Early next week, a new, identical thruster will be tested at a NASA facility in New Mexico to determine what may have gone wrong.
Ground tests are expected to last “several weeks.”
Boeing has been plagued by a series of problems over the past few years. In January, a fuselage plug tore off a new Alaskan Airlines Boeing 737 MAX-9 at 10,000 feet. Their 737 MAX planes also suffered crashes in 2018 and 2019.
