The first crewed voyage of Boeing’s Starliner was supposed to last around a week, but the high-stakes mission is still in limbo eight weeks after launch.
Their high-stakes mission was supposed to last about a week — but 56 days later, two NASA astronauts are still aboard the International Space Station, waiting as teams on the ground try to figure out how to bring them home safely in the Boeing spaceship they rode to orbit.
The beleaguered Starliner capsule has two problems: its propulsion system is leaking helium and five of its thrusters malfunctioned as it was docking with the space station. Mission managers were aware of the leaks before the vehicle lifted off but had said they were unlikely to affect the flight or the astronauts’ safety.
The fact that NASA has been considering the option to use the Dragon capsule to bring them back shows that there is some concerns.
That’s overblown per the latest NASA update a couple hours ago.
While waiting on engine test results part of the mission team has been brainstorming all kinds of new return contingency ideas that were never an option in the past. The SpaceX idea is one of 4 or 5 mentioned. It’s just the one the media ran with.
The main announcement today though was that all thrusters passed 3 hot fire simulations of a return mission. And that Starliner is likely fine to come home. The issues during approach seem to be understood and worked out.
Glad to be wrong about all that. Being an astronaut was my biggest dream 40 years ago. But we can’t all be astronauts, so I had to settle for my second dream - shitposting on the internet.
In all seriousness, it’s important work for the future of humanity. I don’t want someone to fuck it up for profit or because it’s not their ass on the line. I’m glad those fears are unfounded here.