NASA hates to admit anything. So these astronauts stranded in space is not something they want to expose to the public as much as it is being exposed. I still think Elon Musk will be needed to come to the rescue soon.
The stranded Starliner spacecraft is now delaying SpaceX’s planned Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA has announced. The delay, which moves the launch of the Crew-9 mission from Aug. 18 to no earlier than Sept. 24, “allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test,” NASA wrote in a blog update on Tuesday (Aug. 6).
The Starliner& crew are stuck in space.
As of last week, NASA has not decided whether the Starliner vehicle, should be used to fly its crew home.
The delay is caused by disagreements of the safety of Starliner crew and engineers still haven’t identified the cause of the… pic.twitter.com/3OaZU6ULTb— maxxhazzard (@maxxhazard) August 7, 2024
The update has arrived at a fraught time for NASA and Boeing. The Crew-9 members, who are scheduled to replace the current Crew-8 aboard the ISS, cannot arrive at the station until a free docking port opens up. The preferred Harmony module is currently being occupied by the Starliner spacecraft, which has been stuck on the ISS since June. There is still no return date for Boeing’s spacecraft or its astronauts, who have now been on the ISS for months longer than anticipated. Speculation that the beleaguered spacecraft may have to be abandoned is growing.
The problems began shortly after Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams rode to orbit in Boeing’s spacecraft following years of project delays, successfully blasting off on Starliner’s inaugural crewed flight from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. The astronauts were scheduled to stay a week in orbit, but during the flight, the spacecraft suffered a series of issues, including five helium leaks and five failures of its reaction control system thrusters. This forced engineers to troubleshoot issues on the ground and has extended the two astronauts’ stay aboard the ISS from the planned week to two months and counting.
NASA engineers say that they are taking more time to pick up data on the flight worthiness of Starliner and to iron out its faults. However, progress toward an eventual flight home has stalled. NASA expected to begin a flight-readiness review for the spacecraft at the beginning of August, but the process has yet to start.
NASA Delays SpaceX Launch Due to Starliner Issues#NASA, #SpaceX, #Starliner, #LaunchDelay, #SpaceRace, #Astronaut, #SpaceExploration, #TheAIGuruJi, pic.twitter.com/v8VWbrki5L
— The AI Guru Ji (@theaiguruji) August 7, 2024
Among the reasons for the delay is that Starliner cannot autonomously undock from the ISS, a maneuver that is necessary if NASA decides the craft should return on its own without the astronauts on board, Ars Technica reported. Updating and validating the software needed to make this maneuver will take up to four weeks, sources told Ars Technica.
When previously asked about backup plans to return the astronauts without Starliner, Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said that contingency plans involving SpaceX’s Crew Dragon were in place but that those would be a last resort. “We really have our team focused on, as we close in on this final flight rationale, returning Butch and Suni on Starliner,” Stich said at a July 25 news conference.
Key Points:
i. Launch Delay: The SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed from August 18 to no earlier than September 24 due to the stranded Starliner spacecraft.
ii. Occupied Docking Port: Starliner’s extended stay at the ISS occupies the preferred docking port on the Harmony module, preventing the Crew-9 members from arriving.
iii. Ongoing Issues: The Starliner, which launched on June 5 with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, has faced multiple technical problems, including helium leaks and thruster failures, extending the astronauts’ stay beyond the planned week to over two months.
iv. Flight-Readiness Review: NASA engineers are gathering data to assess the flight worthiness of Starliner, but progress has stalled, and the flight-readiness review process has not yet started.
v. Potential Contingency Plans: NASA has contingency plans involving SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for the astronauts’ return, but the primary focus remains on resolving Starliner’s issues to bring the crew home safely.
Conner T – Reprinted with permission of Whatfinger News
