Problems with Boeing Starliner
The Starliner spacecraft crewed test flight mission, originally only 8 days long, kept extending due to technical difficulties.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have come across multiple helium leaks and thruster malfunctions.
The Starliner was docked to the ISS on June 6 at 1:34 p.m. EDT. The mission launch experienced many delays and scrubs due to oxygen valve malfunctions and helium leaks. NASA made sure the astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched only if it was safe for them.
Then, while docking, five of the 28 thrusters on the Starliner spacecraft failed. Astronaut Sunita Williams then manually docked to the ISS. Later, the engineers discovered five small helium leaks in the service module, which prevented the crew from undocking from the ISS.
Read: NASA: Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to be brought back on SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft
Later, the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS), including Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, were forced to take shelter in Boeing Starliner spacecraft for about an hour as a defunct Russian satellite, RESURS-P1 (#39186), broke into more than 100 pieces near the space station.
This series of accidents added to the delay of the Starliners’ return, keeping them stranded on the ISS. The Straliner crew has remained patient, communicating with mission control and carrying out their research on the space station. But now, health risks arise as more time in space can have a serious effect on the human body.
Reports say Sunita Williams is currently facing health risks related to bone loss on the Space Station.
While the Boeing Starliner has been stranded Boeing is carrying out ground tests in White Sands, New Mexico, to understand what’s wrong with the Starliner spacecraft and troubleshoot the problems, ensuring that the spacecraft is safe for the astronauts return.
NASA is currently in talks with SpaceX to bring back the astronauts on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft by February 2025 if the Boeing Starliner remains unsafe.
