That, in turn, will lead to a juggling of astronaut assignments for the space station.
During its approach to the space station, five of them malfunctioned.
At that time, a jury-rigged seat was added for Mr. Rubio in a Crew Dragon that was also docked at the space station.
The extended stays for Ms. Williams, Mr. Wilmore and Mr. Rubio may have been unplanned, but not uncomfortable, with plenty of supplies brought up by cargo spacecraft.
During his first spaceflight two decades ago, he was one of three astronauts on the space station when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry.
Most people would consider you to be “stranded” if you traveled somewhere with the intention of staying for eight days but were unable to leave for eight months. “.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts who flew on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station in June, have experienced exactly that. A propulsion system malfunction occurred during the test flight, and engineers are unsure if it would be able to return the two astronauts safely to Earth.
That suggests that the astronauts are stuck, don’t you think?
Varda Space Industries, which seeks to produce medications and other materials in space, was founded by Delian Asparouhov, who also serves as its president. He wrote on X, saying, “I don’t know about you, but if I got stuck at an airport for seven months longer than expected, that would definitely qualify as stranded.”. “”.
However, extended time in orbit—10 weeks and counting—is not a terrifying struggle for survival for astronauts who dedicate their careers to space travel, unlike Matt Damon’s character in the film “The Martian.”. “.
In fact, it may be more akin to your supervisor asking if you would mind extending a brief business trip to Paris by six months.
Ms. Williams, who has spent two lengthy stays on the space station before, remarked, “Butch and I have been up here before, and it feels like coming home,” at a press conference last month. I’m not whining because it’s wonderful to be up here. “.
NASA now has to decide within the next week or so on the safest method to return Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore to Earth, regardless of whether they are stranded.
NASA will shift to a backup plan and return the two astronauts home on Crew Dragon, a vehicle manufactured by SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor, if it determines that the issues with Starliner’s propulsion system pose an excessive risk.
This will therefore force astronaut assignments for the space station to be rearranged. Rather than carrying four astronauts to the space station, the next Crew Dragon is slated to launch in late September, leaving two seats available for Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore on the return journey in February of the following year.
Officials from NASA and Boeing have refrained from using the terms “stranded” and “stuck” throughout the summer because doing so would further stigmatize a spacecraft that has been plagued by technical difficulties for years.
The Obama administration’s deputy administrator of NASA, Lori Garver, stated, “I think reporters use imprecise language to get viewers.”. Everyone here is accustomed to that. Although they’re not truly stranded, I don’t think it’s worth getting defensive about. “.
For starters, officials emphasize that Starliner is a test flight intended to find issues, even though NASA and Boeing did state the spacecraft would stay at the station for at least eight days. Therefore, they argue, it should come as no surprise that things haven’t gone according to plan.
Boeing official Mark Nappi, who oversees the Starliner program, stated, “I think we all knew that it was going to go longer than that.”. We didn’t spend a lot of time discussing how much longer, but I believe that our failure to simply decide to stay up there until we completed everything we set out to accomplish is what pains me. ‘”.
The 28 thrusters in Starliner’s reaction control system, which is used for maneuvering, are the cause of the astronauts’ prolonged stay—or stranding, if you prefer. Five of them failed during the approach to the space station. Even after four were resuscitated and Starliner docked without incident, there were worries that they might malfunction once more during the journey back.
A Teflon seal inside the thrusters may have expanded, restricting the propellant flow, as evidenced by ground testing.
However, later orbital test firings of Starliner’s thrusters revealed that performance had nearly returned to normal. It was confusing because one would not anticipate a deformed Teflon seal to revert to its original form. That suggested that the thruster issues might be caused by something else.
An imbalance of the propellants could cause a buildup of gunk within the thrusters, according to Joseph Fragola, an aerospace safety expert who worked with similar thrusters on the lunar lander during the Apollo program in the 1970s but has not worked on Starliner. The thrusters’ reduced performance would also be explained by that, and if the residue eventually evaporates, it would account for the thrusters’ current normal operation.
“We took a long time to fix that problem, and I’m not sure if that’s the problem they’re having,” Mr. Fragola remarked.
If that is a problem, there may be a very real risk. Mr. Dot Fragola stated that an explosion could be caused by the residue and an unbalanced propellant mixture.
In addition, NASA officials maintain enough confidence in Starliner to say that two astronauts would use it in the event of an emergency space station evacuation, lending credence to their claim that Ms. Williams and Mr. Wilmore aren’t genuinely stranded.
That was not the case in December 2022, when a Russian Soyuz capsule experienced a radiator leak, causing all of the coolant to float into space. NASA officials determined that the damaged spacecraft was not safe enough for an emergency because temperatures inside during re-entry could grow dangerously hot. Frank Rubio, a NASA astronaut, had traveled to the space station on the Soyuz. In a Crew Dragon that was also docked at the space station, a makeshift seat was added for Mr. Rubio at that time.
Despite being unplanned, Ms. Williams, Mr. Wilmore, and Mr. Rubio’s extended stays were comfortable because plenty of supplies were transported up by cargo spacecraft.
In 2003, however, that was not the case for astronaut Don Pettit, who is currently in Russia getting ready for his fourth space mission, a September launch to the space station. 11. Two decades ago, on his first space mission, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry, leaving him and three other astronauts on board the space station.
Alright, Mr. Pettit and NASA’s Ken Bowersox, who was the I. commander in the past and is currently a senior official monitoring Starliner’s situation. s. s. , and the Russian astronaut Nikolai Budarin were not in immediate danger.
Mr. Pettit and Mr. Bowersox quickly realized that the shuttle Atlantis, which was supposed to pick them up the following month, was not going to arrive anytime soon, though, as the three crew members struggled with the deaths of seven NASA astronauts — their friends and colleagues. Rationing of supplies was initiated.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Dot Pettit stated, “We were immediately on a water shortage, a food shortage, and a clothing shortage, and we extended these supplies as best we could.”.
