Amid growing concerns about the Boeing Starliner’s return to Earth, NASA has announced some good news. At a conference last week, the space agency said the spacecraft is in such good condition that it can remain in orbit beyond the 45-day limit. The spacecraft, which launched on June 5, was originally scheduled for a one-week mission. However, Starliner suffered a helium leak from its service module, forcing it to remain docked to the International Space Station (ISS).
Boeing Starliner can stay in orbit for more than 45 days
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to dock with the International Space Station after their spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral. However, prior to docking, five of the 28 thrusters in the Reaction Control System (RCS) failed, causing the mission to be extended indefinitely. A series of delays in the spacecraft’s return to Earth put the safety of the crew in jeopardy.
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But NASA offered a bit of a reprieve during a meeting on Friday. “We’ve talked about the 45-day limit imposed by the batteries on the Starliner crew module, and we’re in the process of updating that limit,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, told reporters. “We’ve been looking at those batteries and their performance on orbit,” he added.
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“They’re being charged at each station, and that risk hasn’t really changed, so the risk over the next 45 days is essentially the same as it was over the first 45 days,” Stich added. “What we’re actually doing right now is looking at how the batteries are performing in flight. We’re not seeing any degradation in any of the cells that the batteries are attached to,” according to Space.com.