Astronauts stranded in house face extra setbacks to return residence
NASA has as soon as once more postponed the return of two American astronauts at the moment stranded on the Worldwide House Station.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been scheduled to return to Earth on June 26 after malfunctions of their Boeing spacecraft pressured the astronauts to remain aboard the house station two weeks longer than scheduled.
NASA mentioned on Friday it was taking extra time to evaluation the propulsion failures and helium leaks that brought about the preliminary delay.
The ISS mission was Boeing’s first crewed house launch after greater than a decade of planning, throughout which two launches needed to be canceled late.
The flight was scheduled to final solely eight days, however helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters delayed its return by two weeks.
“NASA and Boeing management are adjusting the return of the Starliner Crew Flight Take a look at spacecraft to Earth,” NASA mentioned in a weblog submit late Friday.
He continued: “The transfer on Wednesday, June 26, won’t intrude with Starliner’s separation and touchdown from a collection of deliberate spacewalks on the Worldwide House Station whereas permitting mission groups time to evaluation propulsion system information.”
“We’re taking our time and following our customary mission administration staff course of,” mentioned Steve Stich, NASA’s Business Crew Program Supervisor.
“We’re letting the info drive our resolution making relating to managing the small leaks within the helium system and the propulsion efficiency we noticed throughout rendezvous and docking.”
