NASA (the United States space agency) and Boeing said they hope to bring the spacecraft Starliner and its first crew of astronauts from International Space Station (ISS) back to Earth on June 18, later than scheduled, as mission analysts examine issues that could affect its return.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft was originally scheduled to undock on Friday (14) and return to Earth after launching its inaugural crew of two NASA astronauts from Florida on June 5.
In scheduling the rocket’s return, NASA officials in Houston have been dealing with several factors: repairs to faulty ship components, weather conditions and ISS scheduling issues such as spacewalks by other astronauts aboard the station. Further return date changes may be announced during the mission.
But until Tuesday (11) mission officials were aiming for June 18 to undock the rocket from the station. The spacecraft should land, around six hours later, in the desert of White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, Willcox Playa, in Arizona or in other similar pre-determined locations, depending on weather conditions.
Dina Contella, NASA’s deputy program manager for the ISS, told reporters on Tuesday that NASA detected a new problem with the aircraft while it remained docked to the station — a “sticky” oxidizer valve.
The Starliner spacecraft can be docked at the ISS for a maximum of 45 days, according to NASA officials.
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