Sunita Williams Stuck in Space: Why? What will she do now? When will she return?
ET Online|
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Sunita Williams stuck in place
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are stuck aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as engineers work on the Boeing Starliner spaceship that will return them to Earth, amid growing concerns. The astronauts arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 6. Their original plan was to spend eight days there. Twenty days later, officials from NASA and Boeing are still making adjustments to the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft's return to Earth.
Reuters
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What happened?
NASA has rescheduled the planned return three times, and now has no date set for it, as per a report by Reuters. Since its June 5 liftoff, the capsule has had five helium leaks, five maneuvering thrusters go dead and a propellant valve fail to close completely, prompting the crew in space and mission managers in Houston to spend more time than expected pursuing fixes mid-mission.
PTI
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How long before Starliner stops working?
Starliner can stay docked at the ISS for up to 45 days, according to comments by NASA's commercial crew manager Steve Stich to reporters. But if absolutely necessary, such as if more problems arise that mission officials cannot fix in time, it could stay docked for up to 72 days, relying on various backup systems, according to a person familiar with flight planning quoted by Reuters.
ANI
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NASA measures
In a statement, Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said, "We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," according to ABC News report. Stich added, "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."
ANI
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When will Sunita Williams return?
As of now, there is no official return date of the flight. Internally at NASA, Starliner's latest targeted return date is July 6, according to the source quoted by Reuters, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Such a return date would mean that the mission, originally planned for eight days, instead would last a month. Even with the propulsion system issues, NASA has said Starliner still would be capable of returning the astronauts to Earth if absolutely necessary - that is, if the capsule must serve as an escape pod from the ISS in an emergency or if any of Starliner's perishable items - such as its solar panels - show signs of expiring earlier than planned.
