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NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
TURNED INTO MORE THAN A MONTH AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION FOR TWO ASTRONAUTS. YEAH, OFFICIALS SAID TODAY. THERE IS STILL NO LANDING DATE, BUT THEY DOUBLED DOWN, SAYING THE CREW IS NOT STUCK IN SPACE. WESH 2’S MEAGHAN MACKEY EXPLAINS WHAT NASA AND BOEING PLAN TO DO IN THE WEEKS AHEAD. YOU KNOW WHAT WE’RE DOING IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR A NEW SPACECRAFT, NASA AND BOEING GAVE AN UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, TRYING TO REASSURE THAT BUTCH WILMORE AND SUNI WILLIAMS ARE NOT STUCK IN SPACE. THE PAIR WERE SUPPOSED TO SPEND ONE WEEK ABOARD THE ES, BUT ARE STILL THERE 35 DAYS LATER. THE BATTERIES ABOARD THE STARLINER ARE GOOD FOR 45 DAYS, BUT ON WEDNESDAY, BOEING INDICATED THEY WOULD PERFORM WELL PAST THAT DEADLINE AND HOPE THE EARLIEST THEY GET THEM UNDOCKED IS THE END OF JULY. WE’RE REALLY WORKING TO TRY TO FOLLOW THE DATA AND SEE WHEN’S THE EARLIEST THAT WE COULD. WE COULD TARGET FOR UNDOCK AND LANDING, YOU KNOW, I THINK SOME OF THE DATA SUGGEST OPTIMISTICALLY, MAYBE IT’S BY THE END OF JULY, BUT WE’LL JUST FOLLOW THE DATA EACH STEP AT A TIME. AND THEN AT THE RIGHT TIME, FIGURE OUT WHEN THE RIGHT UNDOCK OPPORTUNITY IS IN ONGOING HELIUM LEAK AND MISBEHAVING THRUSTERS HAVE DELAYED THEIR RETURN TO EARTH. NASA AND BOEING SAY RIGHT NOW THEY’RE NOT EXPLORING THE IDEA OF POSSIBLY USING ANOTHER SPACECRAFT TO GET THEM HOME. OUR PRIME OPTION IS TO RETURN BUTCH AND SUNNY ON STARLINER. WE’VE DECLARED STARLINER SAFE TO BE AN EMERGENCY RETURN VEHICLE. IN FACT, WE ACTUALLY, UH, HAD THE CREW GET IN IT. UM, A WEEK OR SO AGO WHEN WE HAD THE BREAKUP AND AND POWER UP STARLINER IN THE EVENT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO DEPART STATION ON WEDNESDAY. BUTCH AND SUNNY ECHOED. THEY FEEL SAFE TO RETURN HOME ON STARLINER. I FEEL CONFIDENT THAT IF WE HAD TO IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, WE CAN GET IN OUR SPACECRAFT AND WE CAN UNDOCK, TALK TO OUR TEAM AND FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO COME HOME. MEAGHAN MACKEY WESH TWO NEWS. NASA AND BOEING SAY IF THEY DON’T RETURN BY THE END OF THIS MONTH, THEY’RE HOPING TO GET THEM HOME IN AUGUST. THEY SAY SUNNY AND BUT
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NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers were not ready to announce a return date."We'll come home when we're ready," said Stich, adding that the goal is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner.Stich acknowledged that backup options are under review.Engineers last week completed testing on a spare thruster in the New Mexico desert and will rip it apart to try to understand what went wrong during docking. Five thrusters failed as the capsule approached the space station on June 6, a day after liftoff. Four have since been reactivated.It appeared degraded seals are to blame for the helium leaks and thruster problems, but more analysis is needed. The team will test-fire the thrusters this weekend while docked to the space station to gather more data, said Boeing's Mark Nappi.After the space shuttles retired, NASA hired private companies for astronaut rides to the space station, paying Boeing and SpaceX billions of dollars.This was Boeing's first test flight with a crew aboard. SpaceX has been ferrying astronauts since 2020.

Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.

Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.

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NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers were not ready to announce a return date.

"We'll come home when we're ready," said Stich, adding that the goal is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner.

Stich acknowledged that backup options are under review.

Engineers last week completed testing on a spare thruster in the New Mexico desert and will rip it apart to try to understand what went wrong during docking. Five thrusters failed as the capsule approached the space station on June 6, a day after liftoff. Four have since been reactivated.

It appeared degraded seals are to blame for the helium leaks and thruster problems, but more analysis is needed. The team will test-fire the thrusters this weekend while docked to the space station to gather more data, said Boeing's Mark Nappi.

After the space shuttles retired, NASA hired private companies for astronaut rides to the space station, paying Boeing and SpaceX billions of dollars.

This was Boeing's first test flight with a crew aboard. SpaceX has been ferrying astronauts since 2020.

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