NASA Says Something Weird Is Happening With Boeing's Starliner, Stay in Space Forever!
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Boeing’s Starliner capsule, on its first crewed mission, has been orbiting for over a month without a set return date. Launched on June 5 as part of the Crew Flight Test (CFT), the capsule transported NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) for a mission initially intended to last a week. However, the capsule encountered helium leaks and thruster issues during its journey, prompting engineers to investigate these problems, delaying Starliner’s departure clearance.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, emphasized the careful and thorough analysis being conducted before deciding on a return opportunity. During a press conference on July 10, he explained that the team is meticulously examining the data collected to ensure a safe return. Despite these challenges, confidence in Starliner remains strong among NASA, Boeing, and the CFT astronauts. At a separate media event, Wilmore praised the capsule’s performance during operational checks, noting its impressive capabilities in orbit. He discussed the reaction control system (RCS) thruster issues encountered while approaching the ISS and how they managed the situation.
Wilmore described how they lost an RCS jet, followed by another, which degraded the control capabilities of the spacecraft. Fortunately, they were trained and certified for manual control, which they used for over an hour to compensate for the thruster problems. After docking at the ISS on June 6, Wilmore and Williams joined the Expedition 71 crew, which they humorously refer to as /”Expedition 71./” They have been participating in daily maintenance tasks, science experiments, and addressing a backlog of station duties. Throughout their mission, they have also been conducting thorough checkouts of Starliner’s systems and anomalies, which are under scrutiny by Boeing engineers on Earth to determine the causes.
Stich highlighted the advantage of the ISS acting as an orbital /”hangar,/” allowing for a unique opportunity to understand Starliner’s long-term performance in space before undocking. The thruster issues, along with several helium leaks, are being addressed methodically. Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president and Commercial Crew Program manager, reported that over 30 specific actions were identified to resolve the anomalies, with more than half already completed. Stich added that they aim to finalize the resolution of the helium leak soon.
Despite these issues, the spacecraft is deemed safe to return in an emergency, with all but one of its 28 RCS thrusters cleared for reentry to Earth’s atmosphere. The mission extension has provided valuable additional data, which the engineering teams find incredibly beneficial. Nappi noted the excitement among engineers as they gather more data, which aids in improving future missions.
The latest possible return date for Starliner, according to Stich, would be mid-August, coinciding with the handover between SpaceX’s Crew-8 and Crew-9 missions. Ideally, Wilmore and Williams will return earlier, with optimistic projections suggesting a possible end-of-July departure. Stich stressed the importance of following the data to determine the safest and earliest undock opportunity. Confidence in the thrusters’ current performance remains high, bolstered by an on-orbit thruster test fire conducted while docked at the ISS.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, emphasized the careful and thorough analysis being conducted before deciding on a return opportunity. During a press conference on July 10, he explained that the team is meticulously examining the data collected to ensure a safe return. Despite these challenges, confidence in Starliner remains strong among NASA, Boeing, and the CFT astronauts. At a separate media event, Wilmore praised the capsule’s performance during operational checks, noting its impressive capabilities in orbit. He discussed the reaction control system (RCS) thruster issues encountered while approaching the ISS and how they managed the situation.
Wilmore described how they lost an RCS jet, followed by another, which degraded the control capabilities of the spacecraft. Fortunately, they were trained and certified for manual control, which they used for over an hour to compensate for the thruster problems. After docking at the ISS on June 6, Wilmore and Williams joined the Expedition 71 crew, which they humorously refer to as /”Expedition 71./” They have been participating in daily maintenance tasks, science experiments, and addressing a backlog of station duties. Throughout their mission, they have also been conducting thorough checkouts of Starliner’s systems and anomalies, which are under scrutiny by Boeing engineers on Earth to determine the causes.
Stich highlighted the advantage of the ISS acting as an orbital /”hangar,/” allowing for a unique opportunity to understand Starliner’s long-term performance in space before undocking. The thruster issues, along with several helium leaks, are being addressed methodically. Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president and Commercial Crew Program manager, reported that over 30 specific actions were identified to resolve the anomalies, with more than half already completed. Stich added that they aim to finalize the resolution of the helium leak soon.
Despite these issues, the spacecraft is deemed safe to return in an emergency, with all but one of its 28 RCS thrusters cleared for reentry to Earth’s atmosphere. The mission extension has provided valuable additional data, which the engineering teams find incredibly beneficial. Nappi noted the excitement among engineers as they gather more data, which aids in improving future missions.
The latest possible return date for Starliner, according to Stich, would be mid-August, coinciding with the handover between SpaceX’s Crew-8 and Crew-9 missions. Ideally, Wilmore and Williams will return earlier, with optimistic projections suggesting a possible end-of-July departure. Stich stressed the importance of following the data to determine the safest and earliest undock opportunity. Confidence in the thrusters’ current performance remains high, bolstered by an on-orbit thruster test fire conducted while docked at the ISS.
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