Nasa says it is close to announcing when it will bring home two astronauts who have been “stuck” in orbit for more than two months by ongoing technical problems with Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, but admits it still has not figured out exactly how.
The space agency’s latest update on the troubled test mission on Wednesday revealed that managers were expecting to make a final decision either late next week or early the week after that, after ground engineers complete an evaluation of Starliner’s glitchy propulsion system.
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been onboard the International Space Station for almost 70 days, almost 10 times longer than the test flight was originally expected to last, while engineers troubleshoot reaction control thrusters that failed during Starliner’s first docking attempt on 6 June.
Nasa said it still hopes to return them to Earth aboard Starliner, but has admitted the clock is ticking on a decision that could see the craft sent back without a crew, and the astronauts forced to stay in space until next February when they would come home on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
“It’s getting a lot harder. We’re reaching a point where [by] that last week in August we really should be making a call, if not sooner,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of Nasa’s space operations mission directorate, told a lunchtime press conference.
“Butch and Suni are well engaged on the space station. It’s great to be there, enjoying the environment, eating that great space food and being able to look out the window. So I know they’re making the best of this time, but I’m sure they’re eager for a decision just like the rest of us.”
The chief astronaut, Joe Acaba, said he had spoken regularly with the astronauts about the prospect of a long-duration stay.
“If Butch and Suni do not come home on Starliner and they are kept aboard the station, they will have about eight months on orbit,” he said.
“We are lucky to be in a time in human space flight where we have regular resupply missions, enabling the crews aboard the station to receive any extra supplies they may need.”
Notably, no representative from Boeing was present at the media briefing, fueling further speculation of a wedge between the space agency and its commercial partner over this and other collaborations.
Boeing engineers are reportedly convinced Starliner is safe to bring its crew home now, while Nasa, which lost 14 astronauts in two space shuttle disasters in 1986 and 2003, is understandably more cautious.
“I’m not surprised the Boeing team is 100% behind their vehicle, that’s what we would like from them,” Bowersox said.
“But I can also tell you they want to work with us in a partnership. When we get to a decision we’ll work through it together.”
Nasa managers stressed that Starliner, which launched on 5 June seven years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, was still rated as an escape vehicle for the crew in the event of an emergency.
But its continuing problems are an embarrassment for Boeing, which has suffered numerous recent safety and quality issues in its aviation division, and a setback for Nasa’s plan to rely on Starliner as an additional crew transport to lower earth orbit to SpaceX’s Dragon.
Asked if the agency would consider an uncrewed return of Starliner as a failure, Russ DeLoach, chief of Nasa’s office of safety and mission assurance, appeared to pass blame for such a scenario on to Boeing.
“If we intervene and make the call to change the mission, that the crew would ride home on something other than Starliner, we don’t need to consider that a Nasa mishap,” he said.
