NASA and Boeing officials on Friday denied reports that the commercial Starliner spacecraft was stranded at the International Space Station, but said they needed time to analyze data before officially giving the go-ahead for the spacecraft to undock and re-enter.
Two NASA astronauts, Commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, will remain aboard the space station for at least a few more weeks while engineers on the ground conduct thruster tests to better understand issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system in orbit. Wilmore and Williams launched on an Atlas V rocket on June 5 and docked with the station the next day, completing the first leg of Starliner’s maiden test flight with astronauts on board.
NASA officials had originally planned to keep the Starliner spacecraft docked at the space station for at least eight days, but left the door open for an extended mission. The test flight is now likely to last at least a month and a half, or longer, as engineers grapple with helium leaks and thruster malfunctions in Starliner’s service module.
The Starliner spacecraft’s batteries were initially certified for only a 45-day mission duration, but NASA officials said they were considering extending that deadline after ensuring the batteries were performing well.
“We have time,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “We’re still in the middle of the test mission. We’re still making progress.”
Previously, NASA and Boeing officials have postponed Starliner’s re-entry and landing from mid-June, then from June 26, and now missed a possible landing in early July. Last week, NASA said in a statement that the agency’s top officials were meeting to formally review Starliner’s re-entry readiness, which was not part of the original plan.
“We’re not just staying on the ISS.”
Steve Stich, head of NASA’s commercial crew program, said Friday he wanted to clear up “misunderstandings” that have led to reports that the Starliner spacecraft has become trapped or stranded at the space station.
“I want to be clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” Stitch said. “Our plan is to bring them back aboard Starliner and have them return home at the appropriate time. There’s a bit more work to be done before they can finally return, but they are safe on the space station.”
With Starliner now docked, the space station is currently home to three spacecraft, including SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Russia’s Soyuz, and there are no serious plans under consideration to return Wilmore and Williams aboard a separate spacecraft.
“Obviously, we are in the luxury position of having multiple vehicles and we have contingency plans in place for a variety of case scenarios, but right now our focus is on getting Butch and Suni rescued aboard the Starliner,” Stich said.
“We’re not just stopping at the ISS,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president in charge of the Starliner program. “It’s very painful to read this. We’ve had some very good test flights so far, and they’re being viewed rather negatively.”
Stich said NASA officials should “interact more frequently” with reporters to fill in gaps in information about the Starliner test flights, even though the agency’s written updates aren’t always timely and often lack detail and context.
NASA officials have approved the Starliner spacecraft to make an emergency return to Earth if astronauts need to evacuate the space station for safety or medical reasons, but NASA has not yet approved Starliner to re-enter and land under “normal” conditions.
“In the event of an emergency, we are prepared to put a crew on board the spacecraft and use it as a lifeboat to return home,” Bowersox said. “As for the nominal entry, we want to look at the data further before making a final decision to put a crew on board the spacecraft. This is a very significant decision, so we will be bringing our senior management team together (for approval).”