NASA and Boeing face challenges with Starliner spacecraft

NASA and Boeing decided to keep the Starliner spacecraft on the International Space Station (ISS) for a longer time than expected, they reported this Friday.

This decision is made while specialists try to solve several problems that could complicate their return to Earth.

Launch and docking of the Boeing Starliner

Last Wednesday, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket took off from the US Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, with the mission of taking the Starliner to the ISS.

On board were astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

The spacecraft managed to dock with the forward port of the station’s Harmony module a day after launch, albeit more than an hour late due to a failure of five reaction control system (RSC) thrusters during approach.

Fortunately, NASA and Boeing engineers managed to restore four of these boosters to operation before docking.

During its stay on the ISS, new problems were identified on the Starliner

Starliner was initially scheduled to undock from the ISS this Friday.

However, the return date was postponed twice due to various factors, including repairs to faulty components, weather conditions, and station scheduling issues such as spacewalks.

NASA announced that undocking is expected to occur next Friday.

This Monday, NASA reported that five leaks were detected in the helium manifolds of the spacecraft’s service module, in addition to a stuck oxidant isolation valve.

“The additional time allows the team to finalize egress planning and operations, while the spacecraft remains cleared for emergency crew return scenarios, all within flight rules,” NASA stressed.

Although the Starliner was designed for missions of up to six months, on this specific mission it can remain docked with the ISS for a maximum of 45 days.

Considerations about a rescue mission

Some experts suggest that the problems detected could lead NASA to consider a rescue mission, which would be a significant setback for Boeing, a company that is already facing several controversies related to failures in its planes.

“The good news is that they are on the ISS and not like Apollo 13 when it tried to return home from the Moon,” said Rudy Ridolfi, former commander of the space system. Ridolfi added that he wouldn’t “be surprised if someone at NASA was preparing a SpaceX Dragon capsule for a rescue mission.”