Boeing and NASA postpone Starliner astronaut return to June 22 | Wilnesh News

boeing companyNASA announced on Friday that the Starliner capsule “Calypso” will stay at the International Space Station twice as long as the originally planned mission.

This developmental nature of the mission, Boeing’s Crew Flight Test, was demonstrated as the company and NASA conducted various tests of the Starliner while it docked with the International Space Station. The mission is the first time Starliner has been crewed, with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams piloting the spacecraft back to Earth next week.

Boeing and NASA plan to keep Starliner in space for nine days before launching on June 5.

But Calypso’s mission is currently expected to return to Earth on June 22, departing the International Space Station on June 21 at 11:42 p.m. ET, and about six and a half hours later at 6:26 a.m. ET Landing separately. This means Starliner crew flight tests will now last at least 17 days, roughly twice as long as originally planned, to allow for further spacecraft testing.

NASA said the tests included operating the capsule’s hatch, activating its seven thrusters and checking cabin air temperatures while the program’s managers and astronauts “finalized departure plans and operations.”

The agency also noted that Starliner will “repeate some of the ‘safe harbor’ tests,” but did not explain why this was necessary. Safe Harbor testing is when astronauts aboard the International Space Station use a spacecraft to take refuge in an emergency. NASA said “the spacecraft can still conduct crew emergency return scenarios within flight rules,” referring to the possibility of astronauts accidentally evacuating the International Space Station.

NASA, after Update released on Fridaydeferring CNBC’s request for further clarification to a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s planned departure.

The crew flight test is the last important step before NASA approves Boeing’s crew for the six-month mission. However, like the previous two unmanned spaceflights, Starliner encountered a number of problems during its mission.

Before launch, a single leak was discovered in Calypso’s helium propulsion system. The leak was deemed stable and did not pose a threat to the safety of the capsule, so the launch went ahead and successfully delivered Starliner to the International Space Station.

However, since docking with the International Space Station, the spacecraft has experienced four more helium leaks. NASA wrote earlier this week Based on the current rate of five leaks, Calypso has “enough margin to support a return trip,” with 10 times the helium capacity in its tanks required.

As Boeing guided Starliner toward docking, another problem cropped up in the spacecraft’s propulsion system — one that NASA said had nothing to do with a helium leak. Starliner has 28 jets, called reaction control system (RCS) engines, that help the spacecraft make small movements in orbit.

Five of the 28 thrusters were not operating, but after troubleshooting, Boeing restored the Starliner’s four faulty jets and NASA allowed the spacecraft to dock.

NASA said on Friday it would conduct a hot-fire test before de-docking seven of the eight thrusters near the spacecraft’s tail. A hot fire is a very brief burst of thrusters that Boeing wants to evaluate the performance of. NASA did not specify whether any of the seven thrusters that will be tested are the same five that were halted before docking.

Boeing Vice President Mark Nappi said in a statement that although the mission time has doubled, “we still have sufficient margin and dwell time.”

Starliner was once seen as a competitor to SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which has carried out 12 manned flights to the International Space Station in the past four years. However, various setbacks and delays have gradually reduced Starliner to a backup position for NASA, which plans to have SpaceX and Boeing alternately fly astronauts.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly described the duration of the flight test.