NASA and Boeing continue to postpone the date of return of two astronauts of the Starliner shuttle to Earth. UNN writes with reference to The Wall Street Journal.
Details
Helium leaks and engine problems are forcing NASA and Boeing to delay the return of astronauts Bari Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the Starliner spacecraft.
Their stay in orbit, originally scheduled for a week and then extended several times, has been extended again to give engineers more time to analyze the data and prepare for return.
This was stated by Steve Stitch, head of NASA's commercial manned flight program, during a press conference dedicated to the updated mission schedule.
The manned Starliner mission is scheduled to return from June 22 to 26.
The question now arises: is the first manned Starliner mission to the International Space Station really going as planned?
To understand the situation, you need to go back to June 5 and 6, when the capsule made its journey to the ISS. The crew first noticed a few minor leaks in the pressurized helium circuits, and then noticed that several propellers were having trouble working. In the end, all of them were reactivated, except for one, which is now completely deactivated. Experts say these are relatively minor problems for the capsule, which is still in the testing stage. The crew was never in danger during their arrival, stay, or departure from the ISS.
recall
Earlier, UNN reported that the Boeing Starliner shuttle and the first crew of astronauts will remain on the International Space Station until June 18 due to the need for additional testing of the shuttle's systems and solving problems such as jamming of the oxidizer valve and helium leakage in the propulsion system.