The delayed return of NASA astronauts from the International Space Station due to a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner has raised concerns the crew could be ‘stranded.’
While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s stay was recently extended to an undetermined date, experts told DailyMail.com that the delay is for them to analyze the service module while it is still in space.
‘The service modular does not return to Earth, which means it cannot be recovered and there is no way they can an analysis of what the problem is,’ Scott Walter, who has a doctorate in mechanical space engineering, told DailyMail.com.
‘The more time they have to debug it and run different tests, the better.’
Walter also noted that ‘nothing is off the table,’ suggesting that NASA has already spoken with SpaceX about a potential rescue mission and the private Polaris Dawn spaceflight next month may also be part of the agency’s Plan B.
While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s stay was recently extended to an undetermined date, experts told DailyMail.com that the delay is for them to analyze the service module while it is still in space
The service module, located near the bottom of the capsule, contains a total of 48 thrusters and four launch abort engines.
The structure is set to be jettisoned when Starliner re-enters the atmosphere and is likely to burn up, leaving NASA and Boeing without critical data of what caused the malfunctioning.
Michael Lembeck, an aerospace engineering associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told DailyMail.com that NASA and Boeing are just doing their homework.
‘It is too early to cause the root cause of the problem,’ said Lembeck, who was a consultant for Boeing’s spaceflight division from 2008 to 2013.
He continued to explain that keeping Starliner docked at the ISS is the only way to study the capsule fully.
DailyMail.com has contacted Boeing for comment.
‘I would think that NASA is considering all contingencies well in advance,’ said Walter, who is the chief technical advisor for Visual Components North America.
‘They have already thought these scenarios through if one of these capsules gets stranded or something goes wrong – they aren’t suddenly scrambling to figure this out.’
He continued to explain that NASA and SpaceX have likely had a discussion ‘behind the scenes’ about using the Dragon capsule.’
‘I think there is a Polaris Dawn mission with Jared Issacman, which could potentially be turned into a rescue mission,’ Walter added.
‘I am sure he would gladly say go ahead.’
Issacman has funded the Polaris Dawn mission set to launch July 12, which will see the first commercial spacewalk.
DailyMail.com asked Issacman if he would be willing to perform a rescue mission for the astronauts to which he said ‘officially no comment.’
‘As far as I know, Starliner is fine to come home, but if they gave up on that vehicle, then I think realistically NASA would just send Crew 9 up with two crew members,’ he said.
The service model, located toward the bottom of the capsule, is set to be jettisoned when Starliner re-enters the atmosphere and is likely to burn up, leaving NASA and Boeing without critical data of what caused the malfunctioning
NASA pushed the return to June 14 and then again to June 26 before announcing the date was undetermined over the weekend
NASA pushed the return to June 14 and then again to June 26 before announcing the date was undetermined over the weekend.
Starliner had a known helium leak when it launched on June 5 at 10:52am ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said last month that he was confident 27 out of these 28 thrusters were working properly, free of leaks or other issues.
However, Starliner encountered five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters, five leaks of helium gas meant to pressurize those thrusters and a slow-moving propellant valve that signaled unfixed past issues since launching.
When Starliner arrived in the space station to dock on June 6, the five thruster failures prevented a close approach by the spacecraft until Boeing made a fix.
It rewrote the software and tweaked some procedures to revive four of them and proceed with docking.
Starliner’s undocking and return to Earth represent the spacecraft’s most complicated phases of its test mission.
Experts have suggested that NASA has already spoken with SpaceX about a potential rescue mission
Boeing has spent $1.5 billion in cost overruns beyond its $4.5-billion NASA development contract.
NASA officials have said they want to better understand the cause of the thruster failures, valve issue and helium leaks before Starliner begins its return.
While just one thruster remains dead in Starliner’s current flight, Boeing encountered four thruster problems during the capsule’s uncrewed return from space in 2022.
Lembeck explained that the helium in the thrusters works to turn the valves on and off.
There are seals on the valve, which tend to look and temperature changes experienced during a spaceflight mission can warp the seal
‘This is the first run of a vehicle with crew in it and every first flight has had problems,’ said Lembeck.
‘In Boeing’s defense, when they proposed Starliner, NASA did not fully provide a budget schedule and they had to make certain choices, but I am not saying it resulted in these problems.’
He also predicted that Starliner is likely to return with Williams and Wilmore in the first or second week of July.
Rudy Ridolfi, a former Space System Commander and Space Technology Acquisition Manager, told DailyMail.com: ‘NASA will take a very conservative approach and the Boeing return plan will be rolled up all the way to Bill Nelson for final approval.
‘There is no rush at this point. A Boeing failure to return the two astronauts in the Starliner would almost certainly kill the program.’
Starliner has a 45-day operation life, which would place its return in mid-July.
‘The two astronauts are qualified test pilots, they have a lot of experiences, they are veterans in space and they make the final call on whether the vehicle is safe or not – the pilot always makes the final call,’ said Walter.
‘They are likely consulting with NASA and there is no way the administration would put them under pressure to have to return on it.’
