Two NASA astronauts will keep longer on the Worldwide Area Station as engineers troubleshoot issues on Boeing’s new house capsule that cropped up on the journey there.
NASA on Friday didn’t set a return date till testing on the bottom was full and mentioned the astronauts had been protected.
“We’re not in any rush to come back dwelling,” mentioned NASA’s business crew program supervisor Steve Stich.
Veteran NASA check pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule for the orbiting laboratory on June 5. It was the primary astronaut launch for Boeing after years of delays and setbacks.
The check flight was anticipated to final every week or so, sufficient time for Wilmore and Williams to take a look at the capsule whereas docked on the station. However issues with the capsule’s propulsion system, used to maneuver the spacecraft, prompted NASA and Boeing to delay the flight dwelling a number of instances whereas they analyzed the difficulty.
Additionally they needed to keep away from conflicting with spacewalks by station astronauts. However a spacewalk this week was canceled after water leaked from an astronaut’s spacesuit. The difficulty hasn’t been resolved and the deliberate spacewalk subsequent week was postponed.
READ: NASA to roll out large US moon rocket for debut launch
As Starliner closed in on the house station a day after launch, last-minute thruster failures nearly derailed the docking. 5 of the capsule’s 28 thrusters went down throughout docking; all however one thruster was restarted.
Starliner already had one small helium leak when it rocketed into orbit and a number of other extra leaks sprung up in the course of the flight. Helium is used to pressurize gas for the thrusters. Boeing mentioned this week that the 2 issues aren’t a priority for the return journey.
In delaying the astronauts’ return, NASA and Boeing mentioned they wanted extra time to gather details about the thruster hassle and leaks whereas the capsule was docked. Each are within the service module, a unit hooked up to the capsule that burns up throughout reentry.
READ: New NASA astronauts graduate, eyeing Moon — and Mars
NASA initially mentioned the Starliner may keep docked on the house station for as much as 45 days on account of battery limits. However in-flight exams have proven that restrict may be prolonged, Stich mentioned.
Officers mentioned they gained’t set a return date whereas they do floor exams of capsule thrusters within the New Mexico desert, which had been anticipated to final a few weeks. They wish to attempt to replicate the scenario that occurred throughout docking.
“I wish to make it very clear that Butch and Suni aren’t stranded in house,” mentioned Stich, including that Starliner is designed for a mission of as much as 210 days.
Stich mentioned the astronauts may return to Earth in Starliner within the case of an area station emergency.
Your subscription couldn’t be saved. Please strive once more.
Your subscription has been profitable.
After the house shuttle fleet retired, NASA turned over astronaut rides to personal corporations. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has made 9 taxi flights for NASA since 2020. NASA plans to alternate between SpaceX and Boeing in ferrying crews to and from the house station.