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\n The Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station and orbiting 262 miles above Egypt’s Mediterranean coast on June 13. NASA says additional testing is needed before Starliner can return to Earth.<\/p>\n
NASA\/AP<\/p>\n
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When astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5, they thought they\u2019d be back in plenty of time for the Juneteenth holiday.<\/p>\n
The two were test-driving Boeing\u2019s newest spaceship, called Starliner. All they had to do was put it through its paces, dock briefly with the International Space Station (ISS), and come home. The entire mission was supposed to last around a week.<\/p>\n
Instead, a series of leaks and malfunctions have caused NASA to indefinitely delay the duo\u2019s return.<\/p>\n
Just whatever you do, don\u2019t say they\u2019re stranded.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cWe\u2019re not stuck on ISS,\u201d Mark Nappi, Boeing\u2019s vice president for its Commercial Crew Program, told reporters in a news conference on June 28. \u201cThe crew is not in any danger and there\u2019s no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what\u2019s going on with Boeing\u2019s newest spacecraft.<\/p>\n
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\n NASA\u2019s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are seen aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts have had their return to Earth delayed while NASA conducts additional testing on Starliner’s thrusters.<\/p>\n
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Even before this launch, there were problems<\/h3>\n The development of Starliner has not gone smoothly. During its first test flight in 2019, which didn\u2019t have people on board, it failed to reach its expected orbit. The problem was later traced to an onboard clock that was set incorrectly \u2014 causing the Starliner\u2019s thrusters to fire at the wrong time.<\/p>\n
Starliner never made it to the ISS on that trip, and NASA required a second test flight without any astronauts. When it launched again in 2022, two thrusters on Starliner failed to fire as expected. It successfully switched to backup thrusters and docked to the space station.<\/p>\n
Astronauts were finally supposed to launch last year, but then Boeing found two more problems with the spacecraft: issues with the parachute system that would allow them to float back to Earth, and tape used to hold wiring that posed a potential fire risk. Fixing both issues pushed back the launch to this spring.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nFinally, Williams and Wilmore were strapped in on May 6, when more problems appeared \u2014 a stuck valve on the rocket launching Starliner had to be replaced, and mission engineers discovered the Starliner itself was leaking helium.<\/p>\n
Helium gas is used to pressurize Starliner\u2019s propulsion system, and NASA took several weeks to determine the leaks weren\u2019t serious enough to cause the helium to run out during the mission.<\/p>\n
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\n Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket finally lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. The launch came after years of delays and setbacks.<\/p>\n
John Raoux\/AP<\/p>\n
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Thruster cluster leads to fluster<\/h3>\n When all systems were finally \u201cgo,\u201d Starliner\u2019s launch went off without a hitch. On June 5, Williams and Wilmore sailed into orbit.<\/p>\n
But as they approached the ISS, new problems appeared. Five of 28 \u201cReaction Control Thrusters\u201d aboard Starliner\u2019s service module shut themselves down unexpectedly, and the spacecraft was left holding just outside the docking port, while engineers did some troubleshooting.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the spacecraft docked successfully with the space station, and four of the five thrusters were brought back online. But NASA later disclosed it had found four additional helium leaks in different parts of the spacecraft, bringing the total to five.<\/p>\n
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NASA now says that it needs to conduct additional testing and evaluation of these issues before Williams and Wilmore can return to Earth. Space agency engineers suspect that faulty seals may be behind the helium leaks, which they think pose little risk. But the thruster issues have been harder to pin down.<\/p>\n
NASA says that starting this week, it will be conducting extensive tests of a Starliner thruster at its White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M. The test thruster will be put through simulated launches, dockings and landing burns, to see if engineers can replicate the problems, and also confirm that the thrusters can safely be used to bring Williams and Wilmore home.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce that testing is done, then we\u2019ll look at the plan for landing,\u201d Steve Stich, the program manager on NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program, told reporters. The entire process could take several weeks, he says.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nDon\u2019t say stuck<\/h3>\n Even before the latest press conference, news media was speculating that Williams and Wilmore might be stuck aboard the station. It\u2019s a claim that Boeing, in particular, seems to bristle at.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe astronauts are not<\/strong> stranded at the ISS,\u201d read the first line of the company\u2019s statement on the matter, which NPR received on June 26.<\/p>\n\n
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\n As Starliner prepared to dock with the International Space Station, several thrusters failed to fire as expected.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey\u2019re not stuck in space,\u201d agrees Laura Forczyk, executive director of Astralytical, a space consulting group. The astronauts are comfortably housed at the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
Starliner is designed to remain in space up to 210 days, according to Stich. This test flight was originally supposed to be limited to 45 days, due to the spacecraft\u2019s battery life, but Stich says the space station is recharging the batteries as designed, and NASA is looking to extend that limit.<\/p>\n
In a real pinch, NASA could use either a SpaceX Dragon capsule or a Russian Soyuz capsule to bring the duo home, but Forczyk doubts that will be necessary.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t see this as being anything critical, or life-threatening,\u201d Forczyk says. \u201cI just think they\u2019re being extra cautious as they should be, because this vehicle is not operating as intended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forczyk notes that the problems with the helium system and the thrusters are located in Starliner\u2019s service module, a section of the spacecraft that will be jettisoned before landing. For that reason, she says, engineers may want to keep Starliner at the station longer, so they can gather more data from the module before it burns up during reentry.<\/p>\n
As further evidence of NASA\u2019s confidence in Starliner, Williams and Wilmore took shelter inside the spacecraft last week, after a Russian satellite broke apart, creating orbital debris that could have threatened the station.<\/p>\n
\u201cButch and Suni got in the spacecraft, powered up the vehicle, closed the hatch, and were ready to execute \u2026 an emergency undock and landing,\u201d Stich says.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nStarliner\u2019s future could be in limbo<\/h3>\n In 2014, Boeing received a $4.2 billion contract from NASA to build Starliner. The spacecraft was supposed to ferry astronauts regularly to and from the International Space Station within the decade. Those flights are now years behind schedule, and the delays have cost Boeing at least $1.5 billion in losses.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, rival company SpaceX, which was awarded just $2.6 billion, successfully flew humans in 2020 and has completed eight regular crewed missions for NASA to the space station.<\/p>\n
Ron Epstein, an analyst at Bank of America, says that the problems are part of bigger issues at the aerospace giant. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can look at it in isolation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Boeing has also seenproblems with its 737 Max aircraft, including a door that flew off an aircraft earlier this year, and its delivery of two 747s to be used as the presidential Air Force One has also been delayed.<\/p>\n
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\n Starliner will eventually land somewhere in the western U.S., just as it did during an uncrewed flight test in 2022.<\/p>\n
Bill Ingalls\/NASA\/AP<\/p>\n
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At its root, Epstein says these issues are caused by a move away from \u201chardcore engineering\u201d within the company\u2019s management.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have management teams over a number of years that have focused more on shareholder return than the core engineering business of the company,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Starliner\u2019s first regular flight carrying astronauts to ISS is now scheduled for February 2025, but it\u2019s unclear whether NASA will certify the new spacecraft in time. Even if it did, it would likely conduct just a handful of flights before NASA retires the Space Station in 2030.<\/p>\n
Given all that, Epstein says it\u2019s possible that, if NASA requires extensive modifications and fixes to Starliner, Boeing may decide to walk away from the program altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoeing management has been clear, I think, to the investment community that Starliner and certain aspects of space are just not core to them,\u201d he says. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the company wouldn\u2019t want to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nBut Boeing\u2019s Nappi says the company is fully committed to Starliner. \u201cThe plain and simple answer to the question is: \u2018No, we\u2019re not going to back out,\u2019 ” he says. \u201cThis is our job.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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