NASA astronauts stuck in space after Boeing capsule malfunctions: how will they return to Earth

There are currently eight astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS), an orbital laboratory located 400 kilometers from Earth. But there should be 6 of them.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore On June 5, the new spacecraft took off on its first manned flight. capsule Starliner from Boeinga SpaceX competition to send astronauts to an orbital complex. The mission, known as the Crewed Flight Test (CFT), was expected to last only about 10 days, but has been extended several times to this day. NASA and Boeing are investigating helium leaks and engine problems on Starliner.

At the moment There is no scheduled departure date for the CFT mission, and in particular,Although the days in space continue to pass, everything seems to indicate that these two astronauts are stuck in space waiting SpaceX’s Crew-Dragon capsule rescues them and returns them to Earth.

On June 6, Starliner experienced a helium leak and engine problems while docking with the International Space Station. Boeing officials today confirmed that the spacecraft is stable and ready to leave the ISS in an emergency. But after testing the boosters in space, NASA and Boeing said they want to spend more time understanding the root cause of the problems.

“We’re not going to set a specific date until we complete these tests and look at the fault tree and understand the path forward,” said NASA’s commercial crew program manager. Steve Stich.

On June 6, during the docking, the unexpected occurred: a small helium leak and five faulty thrusters prevented Starliner from making its final approach to the ISS. NASA rejected the first docking attempt to ensure Starliner was ready for flight, but authorized a second attempt, which resulted in the spacecraft docking with the orbital complex.

Further testing and inspection of the helium supply and five boosters (out of 28 in the reaction control system) showed that the leak had stabilized and most of them were being restored. However, NASA and Boeing decided not to use at least one of these boosters during landing. due to performance issues.

Stitch compared the Boeing Starliner flight to the agency’s first spacecraft, STS-1.which launched astronauts John Young and Bob Crippen into orbit in 1981.

“I would say that some of the problems we face are very similar to the problems of a spacecraft. Water cooling system problem, For example, it is strikingly similar to what NASA encountered during shuttle flights throughout the 30-year program,” the expert said.

“When everything is finished, we will meet and make sure that we have done everything necessary to understand the system, and then we will return home safely,” he said. Mark Nappi, Vice President and Director of Boeing Commercial Crew Programs.

While the analysis continues on the ground, Wilmore and Williams have devoted their time to other tasks on the ISS, such as maintenance.They know it’s a test flight and they knew we’d learn.and that’s all good. There’s nothing unexpected about that,” Nappi said of the crew’s comments in a recent call with Boeing from orbit.

Starliner is a new type of spacecraft from Boeing, unlike the other commercial crew provider that carries astronauts to the ISS: SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Starliner has flown two uncrewed missions to prepare for CFT after the first attempt to reach the ISS in 2019 failed due to computer glitches. Meanwhile, Dragon completed one uncrewed flight in 2019 and one astronaut test flight in 2020 before embarking on crewed missions to the ISS every six months.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and dozens of repairs, Starliner’s second uncrewed test flight arrived safely at the ISS in 2022, after also experiencing engine issues during docking.

One of the reasons why the CFT took the longest to dock was the evaluation of the service module, which Most of the fuel is there, as it will be thrown out during landing. These tests could help learn more about why Starliner’s propulsion system experienced problems during dockings in 2022 and 2024.

Six NASA astronauts currently living off-planet just sent a special birthday greeting to their home country.

Mike Barratt, Matt Dominick, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Janette Epps, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore took the microphone and said a few words: “The Fourth of July always reminds me of the freedoms we continue to fight for every day around the world,” Epps said. Barratt, Dominick and Epps arrived at the ISS in early March as part of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission. Dyson arrived a few weeks later aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. All four will spend about six months aboard the orbiting lab.

But these six ISS crew members are not the only current ISS residents. Cosmonauts Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, and Oleg Kononenko also live on the ISS, but did not participate in the July 4 video address.