NASA indefinitely delays the return of the Starliner spacecraft and its astronauts

MEXICO CITY (apro).- After three postponed dates for the return of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) does not have a return date for the ship that arrived at the Station International Space Station with two astronauts on June 6.

NASA announced June 26 as the return date for the Starliner, however, late last Friday it canceled plans to undock the capsule without a new target date, according to CNN. Boeing’s Starliner arrived for an eight-day test mission and could spend more than a month in low-Earth orbit, but is cleared to return to Earth in the event of an emergency aboard the International Space Station. .

Spaceflight veterans Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore arrived at the space station aboard the Starliner on June 6. NASA initially expected their stay to last about a week. But problems the vehicle experienced along the way, including helium leaks and thrusters that suddenly stopped working, have raised questions about how the second half of the mission will unfold.

The two astronauts now find themselves in a tentative position: Extending their stay aboard the space station for a second time as engineers on the ground struggle to learn more about the problems that plagued the first leg of their journey.

The erratic behavior of five thrusters frustrated the ship’s first docking attempt with the International Space Station on June 6. In addition, five helium leaks and a defective propellant valve in the service module have been detected.

Although there is enough helium to return and a redundant valve to replace the defective one, NASA has given its and Boeing engineers more time to analyze the ship’s failures. Officials have said there is no reason to believe that Starliner won’t be able to bring astronauts home, although “we really want to understand the rest of the data,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. , in a press conference on Tuesday.

There are two spacewalks planned for the next few days: The first, on Monday, June 24, and the second, on Tuesday, July 2. In addition to doing maintenance work, NASA will take advantage of these extravehicular activities to check if there is microbial life left outside the space station, one of its most striking experiments.

Starliner is unlikely to return until after July 4, due to the timing of the spacewalk and U.S. Independence Day. However, there is a deadline for its return: July 21, as the craft is only designed for a 45-day stay at the International Space Station.

It is not uncommon for astronauts to unexpectedly extend their stay aboard the space station for days, weeks or even months. Boeing and NASA engineers said they opted to leave Starliner, and Williams and Wilmore, aboard the station longer than planned, primarily to conduct additional analysis.