The first commercial spacecraft Boeing Starliner with a crew remains at the International Space Station with no confirmed return date. Boeing is currently conducting damage control.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams flew on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft on June 5 after a series of technical delays. They were supposed to stay in space for 8 to 10 days. However, 12 days after the crew's arrival, Boeing postponed the return of the spacecraft to June 26.
On Friday, another delay was announced. The company stated that they need additional time to plan two spacewalks and assess issues on board after five helium leaks. Boeing says the delays are not considered a mistake: "This is a test flight. The mission is still ongoing, and it's going well." A company representative reported that they have expanded the mission to gather more data on helium leaks.
The helium systems and engines are located in the service module of the spacecraft, which is jettisoned and burns up in the atmosphere during landing, preventing fault analysis on Earth. Currently, the leaks have been fixed and do not pose a threat to the astronauts' return, four out of five engines of the spacecraft are working normally.
Boeing says that the new return date will be determined after the second spacewalk on July 2. The crew does not need to leave the station immediately: there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station's work schedule is relatively open until mid-August.
Source: Busines Insider
Comments (0)
There are no comments for now