Boeing and NASA are once again “fixing” the return home of two astronauts from the International Space Station with the Starliner spacecraft.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were scheduled to stay on the ISS for just one week after docking there on June 6. They are now not expected to make the trip back to Earth until at least early July, after two planned spacewalks and ongoing assessments of reported issues on the spacecraft, Boeing announced in a June 21 update.
The space agency has not announced a new return date after recently saying the astronauts could return on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Here’s what we know.
Starliner return delayed for spacewalk, review of shuttle issues
Starliner’s move and landing from Wednesday conflicts with “a series of scheduled spacewalks (ISS) while giving mission teams time to review propulsion system data,” the aerospace company said in the update.
The spacewalks were scheduled for Monday and July 2, NASA and Boeing said, meaning the astronauts would not return until they were done. The spacewalk that was supposed to take place on Monday was canceled after a problem with the space suits. NASA has not yet said how this will affect the planned spacewalk schedule or whether it will further delay the astronauts’ return.
USA TODAY contacted Boeing, which referred questions to NASA. USA TODAY reached out to NASA on Monday morning, but has yet to hear back.
The crew is also looking into some problems with the Starliner spacecraft.
“We’re taking our time and following our mission management team’s standard process,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in the update. “We are allowing the data to guide our decision-making regarding the management of the small helium system leaks and thruster performance that we observed during rendezvous and docking.”
Stitch also said an “agency-level review” would be necessary because of the length of the mission. He compared it to what was done before the return of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 after spending two months in orbit.
The 90th US spacewalk was cancelled
Although NASA and Boeing moved the Starliner’s return to accommodate the spacewalks, US spacewalk 90 was canceled Monday morning due to “a water leak in the service umbilical and cooling unit on NASA astronaut Tracy’s space suit C. Dyson,” according to NASA.
The water leak was noticed after Dyson and astronaut Mike Barratt put their suits on the battery on Monday morning, NASA said.
The spacewalk was originally scheduled for June 14, but that attempt was delayed due to a “spacesuit discomfort issue.”
The spacewalk is planned to “remove a faulty electronics box from a communications antenna on the starboard side of the space station,” NASA said. The astronauts would also have collected samples for analysis to “understand the ability of microorganisms to survive and reproduce outside the orbital laboratory,” according to the government agency.
Are astronauts stuck in space?
While the homecoming of Wilmore and Williams continues to be delayed, Boeing said plenty of supplies remain for the astronauts and the station’s schedule is “relatively open until mid-August.” In the event of an emergency at the ISS, the Starliner is allowed to leave orbit and return to Earth, the company added.
Boeing added that the crew “is not required to take time off” as the astronauts continue to assist with station operations as needed and are completing additional NASA missions during the flight.
“Crew feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do in Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of the Program Boeing’s Starliner. June 21 release.
“Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked at the space station,” Stich said. “We’re strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing preparations for Butch and Suni’s return to the Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system improvements we’ll want to make for missions after certification.”
Boeing Starliner problems, including helium leaks
Helium leaks and a malfunctioning thrust valve prevented the Starliner from taking off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 5. The same issues appear to still be plaguing the spacecraft weeks later.
There have been a series of helium leaks in the Starliner’s propulsion system, Stich said during a June 18 media teleconference. So far, five leaks have been found since the Starliner docked at the ISS, he added.
“The way forward is to continue to look at the helium system to try to understand what’s going on, again look at the simulations for the remainder of the flight… and then the operational techniques to manage the helium system, ” Stich said.
The faulty thrust valve, which is still offline as of June 15, is another problem, but Stich said the crew did not plan to use it on the return flight “out of an abundance of caution.” The valve is believed to have gone offline due to extreme heat generated while the thruster system was firing “in rapid succession” to keep the Starliner on track with the space station, according to Stich.
