Two astronauts who have been trapped on the International Space Station (ISS) for more than a month speak to reporters for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams lifted off June 5 on the first Starliner mission into orbit carrying astronauts.
After docking at the ISShe POT The astronauts were supposed to remain in orbit for eight days.
However, Boeing’s Starliner has been plagued with problems and its return to Earth has been repeatedly delayed.
During their prolonged stay on the ISS, the astronauts were forced to take refuge in the spacecraft. when a Russian satellite exploded nearby.
However, if they needed to evacuate, Starliner may have had difficulty getting away from the space station.
The spacecraft’s propulsion system is faulty, which is why it moves the capsule away from the ISS and positions itself to dive through Earth’s atmosphere.
Many of Starliner’s boosters have overheated when fired and leaks of helium, used to pressurize the boosters, appear to be related to how often they are used, according to NASA commercial crew director Steve Stich.
How stagnant are they?
Boeing insists that astronauts are “not stuck” and says “there is no major risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” according to Mark Nappi, Boeing Commercial Crew Program manager.
Starliner can spend 45 days docked with the ISS, or up to 72 days at a time, depending on backup systems.
Watch the manned launch of Boeing’s Starliner
If the astronauts still couldn’t use it to return to Earth, they could travel with other crews there.
The Russian Soyuz spacecraft will carry three people back to Earth in September and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule should return in August.
Butch and Suni are in “no danger,” according to Nappi, and they’re not very attached to space station standards either.
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Last year, NASA’s Frank Rubio landed back on Earth after the longest continuous space flight by an American, spending a whopping 371 days in orbit.
His return was delayed six months due to a coolant leak in his spacecraft.
Between 1994 and 1995, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent a record 437 days on the Russian space station Mir, although he always intended to stay there for a long time.
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Starliner delays
Starliner’s problems come after years of delays and failed launches.
In 2014, NASA asked both SpaceX and Boeing to develop commercial crew capsules, but while SpaceX successfully began transporting astronauts in 2020, this trip was Boeing’s first crew launch.
Boeing’s losses on the Starliner program are believed to be around $1.5bn (£1.2bn).
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