NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing again, to study helium leaks and thruster issues (2024)

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NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing again, to study helium leaks and thruster issues? ›

NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing again, to study helium leaks and thruster issues. Starliner had been scheduled to come home on June 26, but it will now stay aloft until at least July 2. The first astronaut mission of Boeing's Starliner capsule has been extended again.

The development of Starliner has not gone smoothly. During its first test flight in 2019, which didn't have people on board, it failed to reach its expected orbit. The problem was later traced to an onboard clock that was set incorrectly — causing the Starliner's thrusters to fire at the wrong time.

Why was the Starliner return trip postponed? NASA wants more time to analyze problems in the spacecraft's propulsion system, which is used to maneuver in flight. The propulsion system is attached to the capsule, but it doesn't come back to Earth for inspection. It is ditched during reentry and burns up.

Boeing's Starliner capsule is performing well enough on its first-ever astronaut mission that it will likely be able to stay in orbit beyond the initially envisioned 45-day limit, NASA says. Starliner, which launched on June 5, is docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on an indefinite mission extension.

The return to Earth of Boeing's Starliner capsule is on indefinite hold pending results of new thruster tests and ongoing analysis of helium leaks that cropped up during the ship's rendezvous with the International Space Station, NASA announced Friday.

The spacecraft sports no toilet—unlike Crew Dragon—and has about the same livable volume as an SUV, making for a relatively cozy rise to and from orbit. It has physical hand controls and switches for the astronauts to control the spacecraft, unlike the touch screens used inside Crew Dragon.

A 21st Century Space Capsule

The Starliner has an innovative, weldless structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time.

Spacecraft characteristics

The spacecraft consists of a reusable capsule and an expendable service module and is designed for missions to low Earth orbit. The capsule accommodates seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo. For NASA missions to the ISS it will carry four passengers and a small amount of cargo.

HOUSTON, June 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams successfully docked Boeing's [NYSE: BA] Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), about 26 hours after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion for the work and SpaceX $2.6 billion, targeting 2017 as the year the ships would begin to fly.

Where is the Starliner going to land? ›

The astronauts will tentatively land around 4:51 a.m. on June 26 at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Before the new return date, the Starliner was previously scheduled to be back on Earth by June 22. Before the June 22 return date, the spacecraft was anticipated to land no earlier than June 18.

Commercial Airplanes

Boeing has been the premier manufacturer of commercial jetliners for decades. Today, the company manufactures the 737, 747, 767, 777 and 787 families of airplanes and the Boeing Business Jet range.

A team of people in charge of a spacecraft are known as Cosmonauts starting letter is C.. ​ Explanation: Cosmonauts are specially trained individuals that are qualified to operate, pilot and repair spacecrafts.

“We're not stuck on [the] ISS," Nappi reiterated. “The crew is not in any danger, and there's no increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth."

NASA is taking a steppingstone approach to human exploration in space. Building on NASA's 60 years of exploration experience and more than 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station in low Earth orbit, we will extend humanity farther into space than ever before.

Gravity then pulls the spacecraft back towards the Earth. The spacecraft may be slowed to a safe landing speed by parachutes. The space shuttle has stubby wings so that it can land on a runway like an aeroplane, but many spacecraft splash down gently into the sea.

Grissom's flight was the first with an explosive hatch. Grissom insisted the hatch blew by itself when it hit the surface. Subsequent recovery of the spacecraft indicated that the plunger was not pushed and the frame was dented, suggesting a short circuit occurred.

Spacecraft characteristics

The Starliner capsule uses a weldless, spun-formed structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time. Boeing plans to alternate between two reusable crew modules for all planned Starliner missions.

Starliner was only about two hours from its first crewed launch attempt on May 6 when engineers identified an issue with a valve on the second stage, or upper portion, of the Atlas V rocket. The entire stack, including the rocket and spacecraft, was rolled back from the launchpad for testing and repairs.

Starliner has sprung a series of small helium leaks that have confounded NASA and Boeing and have led to a number of delays in getting off the ground and then coming home. Originally, the teams said they thought the leaks were due to a bad seal, but they later said they were not sure what was behind them.