June 27, Washington DC:
The International Space Station (ISS) is currently hosting two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who are waiting for a return to Earth due to multiple mechanical faults with Boeing's Starliner ship. June 14 was supposed to be the return date for the two NASA astronauts. The two have postponed their return to Earth on several occasions, so there is still no firm timetable for when they will be back.
"We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," stated Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, as reported by ABC News. According to Stich, "We are letting the data drive our decision-making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking."
Launched on June 5 from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the Starliner carried flight commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore and flight pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams. June 6 was the date of the Starliner's arrival at the ISS. In order to determine if Boeing's spacecraft could be certified to conduct routine trips to and from the International Space Station, this mission is a subset of NASA's wider Commercial Crew Program.
The crew is currently not in danger, according to Boeing and NASA. They are aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which has lots of supplies in orbit and a relatively open schedule until mid-August. Boeing and NASA have announced that Wilmore and Williams are "integrated" with the Expedition 71 crew on the International Space Station. They are helping the crew with station operations and working on "objectives" that NASA may use to certify Starliner.
The crew's feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they realize that every bit of learning we do on the Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews," stated Mark Nappi, VP and program manager of Boeing's Starliner program.
Even before launch, Starliner encountered multiple problems. May 6 was the original target date for the flight test. However, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket, which is responsible for launching satellites into orbit, experienced an issue with an oxygen valve, which caused a delay. A later date of May 25 was chosen for the launch. The service module, which contains the spacecraft's supporting equipment and instruments for operation, did, however, reveal a little helium leak..
Problems with the thrusters and helium leaks then made it seem like Starlines' docking would be postponed. Five days after docking with the International Space Station, NASA and Boeing announced that the spacecraft was suffering five "small" helium leaks. There was sufficient helium on hand for the return journey, according to NASA and Boeing.
