The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) explained that the return of the manned spacecraft, in which astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are traveling, has been adjusted without a date yet, pending the results of the tests on the propellants and due to helium leaks that arose during the spacecraft’s encounter with the ISS.
“We don’t have a scheduled date (for landing) today,” Steve Stich, director of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters during a teleconference the day before.
He stated that they will not set “a specific date until we have completed the tests.”
The agency also clarified that Wilmore and Williams are not “stranded” as widely perceived after the capsule’s return home was suspended three times.
The problem for NASA and Boeing is that the Starliner service module, which houses the helium lines, thrusters and other critical systems, is discarded before re-entry and burns in the atmosphere, local media report.
They say engineers won’t be able to study the hardware after the fact, and as a result, they want to collect as much data as possible before the astronauts return.
Mark Nappi, director of Boeing’s Starliner program, said it’s “pretty painful to read the stuff that’s out there,” because “we’ve done a really good test flight… and it’s being viewed pretty negatively. We are not stuck in IBD. The crew is not in any danger.
For his part, Stich stressed that he wants to “make it very clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space. Our plan is to continue returning them on Starliner and return them home at the appropriate time. “We’ll have a little more work ahead of us.”
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was intended to transport NASA travelers on a round trip to the ISS to demonstrate that the capsule – also long overdue and over-budget – is up to the task, reported in its moment the press.
With this shipment, Boeing wants to achieve certifications to operate as a second provider of cargo and crew transportation to the ISS, as SpaceX already does after million-dollar contracts that both private firms signed with the federal agency.
Astronauts Wilmore and Williams have been out of Earth orbit since June 6, currently dealing with the “unplanned” side of this mission.
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