Boeing Starliner astronauts will stay on the ISS until August or longer

The management of NASA and Boeing, responsible for the program of commercial flights to the ISS, held another press conference, during which they announced the delay of the Starliner spacecraft in orbit at least until August. New tests of the ship’s maneuvering engines are planned for this weekend, the analysis of which will continue until the end of next week. The ship’s crew will continue to enjoy their time at the station.

Image source: NASA

Boeing emphasized that they expected something like this. “I think we all knew this was going to take a long time. We didn’t spend a lot of time talking about how long it would last, but I think my regret is that we didn’t just say we were going to stay there until we did everything we wanted to do,” Mark Nappi explained. Nappi, Boeing’s vice president for the Starliner program.

On Thursday, a team of NASA and Boeing engineers disassembled the ship’s maneuvering engine, which was previously tested at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) in New Mexico. According to preliminary data, the maneuvering engines, of which there are 28 on the ship, are overheating more than designed, which causes them to shut down. So, five of them switched off while trying to dock with the ISS on June 5. The four engines were restarted and docking took place the next day.

Maneuvering thrusters are not involved in braking the ship when entering the atmosphere, but they move the ship away from the station and the problem with them, first of all, threatens the ISS. Since July 2, NASA engineers have been testing engines on Earth in a test facility to find the root of the problems. Analysis of the first tests is already underway, but new tests are planned for this weekend, simulating the docking and undocking processes. Analysis of the new data is expected no later than Tuesday (July 30). Thus, the return of the ship will be delayed at least until August.

The Boeing Starliner has already spent 50 days in orbit, although the mission was planned for no more than a week. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams arrived at the station on June 6 and have been there for a month and a half. NASA is not yet considering the issue of evacuating the crew on other ships. The agency still has strong confidence in returning the Starliner crew to Earth on their ship.