Two NASA astronauts remain stranded on the International Space Station as engineers work to resolve issues with their Boeing capsule, officials announced Thursday. Originally scheduled to return mid-June, test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams face an indefinite delay due to thruster failures and helium leaks in Boeing’s Starliner capsule.
NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, stated that no return date has been set, emphasizing the priority of resolving the technical problems before the astronauts’ return. “We’ll come home when we’re ready,” Stich said, noting that contingency options, including SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, are under review.
Last week, engineers completed testing on a spare thruster in New Mexico and will further examine it to diagnose the failures encountered during the capsule’s approach to the space station on June 6. While four out of five failed thrusters have since been reactivated, degraded seals are suspected to be the cause of the helium leaks and thruster issues. More tests will be conducted this weekend while the Starliner remains docked.
This marks Boeing’s first crewed test flight after previous setbacks, including a failed software demo in 2019 and subsequent issues in 2022. Despite these challenges, SpaceX has successfully transported astronauts since 2020, although its Falcon 9 rockets have recently been grounded due to an unrelated upper-stage failure. This grounding could potentially delay future crew flights if it continues.
The ongoing problems highlight the complexities and challenges of space travel, even as NASA continues to rely on private companies like Boeing and SpaceX for astronaut transportation.
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