By Joey Roulette
(Reuters) -The Boeing Starliner’s return to Earth from the International Space Station with its first crew of astronauts has been delayed, NASA said on Friday.
NASA has not provided a new date, raising questions about when the mission’s two astronauts will return as more testing and technical issues have created further delays.
The return to Earth was previously scheduled for June 26
The crew of American astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, took off on June 5 as a final demonstration to obtain routine flight certification from NASA.
The manned test of the spacecraft, which has been tested in space twice since 2019 without humans on board, found five failures in its 28 maneuvering thrusters, five leaks of helium intended to pressurize those thrusters and one slow-moving propellant. valve that flagged uncorrected problems from the past.
The problems and additional testing that NASA and Boeing have had to do call into question when exactly the Starliner will be able to take its crew home and add to a list of broader problems Boeing faces with its Starliner program. The company spent $1.5 billion on additional costs on top of its $4.5 billion development contract with NASA.
NASA wants Starliner to become a second U.S. spacecraft capable of ferrying its astronauts to and from the ISS alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has been the agency’s flagship ride since 2020. Boeing’s Starliner program has struggled with software glitches, design issues, and subcontractor disputes for years.
When Starliner arrived in the vicinity of the space station for docking on June 6, the five thruster failures prohibited the spacecraft from making a close approach until Boeing could implement a fix. The company rewrote the software and tweaked some procedures to revive four of them and proceed with the docking.
Starliner’s undocking and return to Earth represent the most complicated phases of the spacecraft’s test mission. NASA officials said they want to better understand the cause of the thruster failures, valve problems and helium leaks before the Starliner embarks on its roughly six-hour return trip.
While only one booster remains dead on the Starliner’s current flight, Boeing encountered four booster problems during the capsule’s uncrewed return from space in 2022.
Under flight rules jointly established by Boeing and NASA, the Starliner’s maneuvering thrusters must, at a minimum, allow “6 degrees of control freedom” and each have a backup thruster, a spokesman for the company said. NASA to Reuters.
This could mean that at least 12 of the 28 thrusters – most of which are backups – are needed for safe flight, or potentially fewer, as long as the remaining thrusters have a backup and can work together in a way that doesn’t constrain the Starliner. freedom of movement in space.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey and Joey Roulette; Editing by Sandra Maler and Diane Craft)
