CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing is closer to understanding what went wrong with its astronaut capsule in orbit now that testing has been completed on a spare booster here on Earth.
O Starliner Capsule he was anchored on the International Space Station since June 6. You should have returned with your NASA test pilots in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks prompted NASA and Boeing to extend its stay.
Officials said Thursday that there is still no return date for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Engineers will first disassemble the booster that has been tested in New Mexico in recent weeks. They will then analyze the data before releasing the Starliner for the journey home.
“We have collected an incredible amount of data about the thruster that could help us better understand what is happening during flight,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said in a statement.
The tests were able to replicate the conditions of the thrusters until the capsule docking with the space station, as well as what the thrusters will experience between undocking and descent, according to NASA.
This is the first Starliner test flight with a crew on board.
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