Two astronauts stuck in orbit due to Boeing capsule problems

Spaceships are wonders of technology. An almost endless tangle of cables, tubes and wires. However, this does not explain failures, and even less that when something breaks, the designers are unable to locate it. And this is exactly the situation that Boeing is currently in – the manufacturer of the Starliner capsule, whose mission to the International Space Station has been significantly extended.

– Starliner has been struggling with various technical problems for years, but its latest problem, the most current one, is that it is leaking helium. Helium is the medium responsible for the proper operation of the maneuvering engines and the Starliner's propulsion in general – explains Jakub Hajuś from “To Jakiś Kosmos”.

News headlines around the world are about astronauts stranded on the International Space Station. Boeing says they are not. Engineers in Seattle believe they can safely return astronauts to Earth. It is NASA that is not willing to take that risk. The situation is difficult because a mission that was supposed to last eight days has now lasted more than 60, and the prospects for a quick return to Earth are getting dimmer.

“What it all boils down to is that a week and a half ago, NASA and Boeing said they knew the cause of the failure, but this week they announced that they really disagreed on what caused the leak. And without determining the source of the failure, they can't risk a manned flight of this spacecraft,” said Leory Chiao, a retired NASA astronaut.

If it is not possible to bring astronauts back by Boeing, they will have to wait for the return of the Dragon capsule from the rival Space X. It will dock with the space station in September with two astronauts – instead of four – the two free seats for the return flight will be filled by astronauts from Starliner, but not until February. The problem with sending an additional capsule is not financial. There is simply not enough space on the International Space Station.

– NASA Docking System has its docking ports at the Harmony module of the International Space Station and there are two such adapters there, so you can dock in two places. And at the moment it is not possible to send another Starliner or Dragon type ship to the International Space Station – informs Jakub Hajkuś.

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NASA still assumes the possibility of a Starliner return. However, this requires finding a fault. So far, tests have shown that the spacecraft is operational, with 27 of its 28 thrusters working. Boeing has made another oversight, however.

– Here, at the same time, we learned another disturbing thing, that Boeing probably turned off the automatic undocking function during various modifications in this Starliner, that someone has to be on board all the time, even though all these space capsules are 100 percent autonomous, in this Starliner someone has to be on board to do it – indicates Jakub Hajkuś.

This issue can probably be eliminated with a software update. The Starliner failure, not the first one, is a very worrying signal. It was the first test flight of this capsule to the International Space Station. The project is significantly delayed and, as you can see, unfinished.

– Something bad has been going on there for a few years now. Whether this is perhaps the reason for the merger with Lockheed Martin, no one knows for sure, but recent months, recent years, have shown that the American government is paying them money to build, for example, Starliner, over four billion dollars, and they are not delivering this project, and on top of that they are losing over one and a half billion dollars – comments Hubert Kijek, host of the program “Kijek in Space” on TVN24 BiS.

That's why there are reports that the future of Starliner may be in jeopardy. But now the most important thing is the safety of the astronauts. Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are very experienced NASA employees. For now, they are supporting the rest of the station crew, and the additional hands mean that the astronauts will be able to do more. There are currently nine people on the International Space Station, and NASA provides them with adequate supplies thanks to deliveries carried by Northrop Grumman transport capsules.