Small helium leaks in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft’s thruster propulsion system have been a concern since shortly after Starliner lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on June 5, 2024, with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board (Boeing)
(Tribune News Service) — The Boeing Starliner spacecraft and its crew won’t return to Earth from the International Space Station until sometime in July at the earliest, NASA and Boeing said Friday evening.
It’s the latest in a series of delays for Starliner’s return, which earlier in the week was moved to June 26. Small helium leaks in the craft’s thruster propulsion system have been a concern since shortly after Starliner lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on June 5 with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board.
On Friday, one reason given for the new delay was to avoid conflicts with two spacewalks planned at the ISS on June 24 and July 2.
“The move off Wednesday, June 26, deconflicts Starliner’s undocking and landing from a series of planned International Space Station spacewalks while allowing mission teams time to review propulsion system data,” NASA’s Space Station blog reported.
NASA said mission managers will evaluate possible Starliner return dates after the ISS spacewalks.
“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking.”
WIth Starliner’s docking at the ISS has far exceeding its planned one-week stay, Stich said NASA will “complete an agency-level review, similar to what was done ahead of the NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return after two months on orbit, to document the agency’s formal acceptance on proceeding as planned.”
Stich added, “Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station. We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”
Perhaps hinting at further delays, NASA’s blog said Wilmore and Williams are are “not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station’s schedule is relatively open through mid-August.”
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