NASA and Boeing officials on Friday pushed back on headlines that a commercial Starliner crew capsule was stranded on the International Space Station, but said they needed more time to analyze the data before officially evacuating the spacecraft for separation and re-entry.
NASA’s two astronauts, Commander Butch Wilmore and Pilot Sonny Williams, will spend at least a few more weeks on the space station as engineers on Earth conduct propulsion tests to better understand issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system in orbit. Wilmore and Williams lifted off on June 5 aboard an Atlas 5 rocket and arrived at the station the next day, completing the first part of the Starliner’s first test flight with astronauts.
NASA managers originally planned for the Starliner spacecraft to remain docked to the space station for at least eight days, though they left open the possibility of extending the mission. The test flight is now likely to last at least a month and a half, and possibly longer, as engineers grapple with a helium leak and glitches in the Starliner’s service module.
The batteries on the Starliner spacecraft were initially only certified for a 45-day mission, but NASA officials said they are looking to extend the limit after ensuring the batteries are working well.
“We have the luxury of time,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “We’re still in the middle of a test mission. We’re still moving forward.”
Previously, NASA and Boeing officials had pushed Starliner’s return and landing back from mid-June, then June 26, and now have pushed back a potential landing window in early July. Last week, NASA said in a statement that the agency’s senior leadership would meet to formally review Starliner’s readiness for return, which was not part of the original plan.
“We’re not stuck on the International Space Station.”
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said Friday he wanted to clear up a “misunderstanding” that led to headlines claiming the Starliner spacecraft was stuck or stranded on the space station.
“I want to make it very clear that Butch and Sonny are not stranded in space,” Stitch said. “Our plan is to continue to get them back on the Starliner and get them home in time. We have more work to do to get there for the final return, but they are safe on the space station.”
With Starliner docked, the space station currently hosts three different spacecraft, including SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Russia’s Soyuz. There are no serious plans under consideration to bring Wilmore and Williams home on a different spacecraft.
“We obviously have the luxury of having multiple vehicles, and we’re working on contingency plans for a lot of different situations, but right now, we’re really focused on getting Butch and Sonny back on the Starliner,” Stitch said.
“We’re not stuck on the International Space Station,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president in charge of the Starliner program. “It’s very painful to read about the stuff that’s out there. We’ve had a really good test flight done so far, and it’s being looked at somewhat negatively.”
Stich said NASA officials should have “more frequent interactions” with reporters to fill in information gaps about the Starliner test flight. NASA’s written updates are not always timely and often lack detail and context.
NASA officials have cleared the Starliner spacecraft for an emergency return to Earth if astronauts need to evacuate the space station for safety or medical reasons. But NASA has not yet approved the Starliner’s return and landing under “nominal” conditions.
“When there is an emergency, we are prepared to put the crew on the spacecraft and bring them home as a lifeboat,” Bowersox said. “For the nominal entry, we want to look at the data more before we make the final decision to put the crew on board, and it’s a serious enough call that we’ll get the senior management team together (for approval).”
