Sunita Williams’ return to Earth may take months, NASA likely to extend project

The Boeing Starliner project that was expected to last only a few days, will now take more time as the first test with two astronauts onboard is in limbo, without any announcement of exact date of return to Earth. This means that Indian-origin Sunita Williams, who has been stuck in space, may take a few months to return to Earth.

The US Space Agency is thinking about extending Starliner’s duration from 45 to 90 days, said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, reported the CNN.

Officials have frequently hinted that the Starliner, which experienced helium leaks and thruster failures on its way to the International Space Station in early June, will be safe enough to return astronauts such as Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Butch Wilmore.

‘Not in a rush to come home’:NASA

“We’re just looking at the timeline to execute (the test in New Mexico) and then review the data,” said NASA at a briefing on Friday. This process is the “long pole”, that could determine a landing date, said Stich.

“We’re not in a rush to come home,” Stich mentioned further.

Part of this intended extension is due to ground experiments that Boeing and NASA intend to conduct in New Mexico to better understand why some of the Starliner's thrusters unexpectedly failed during the first leg of its mission.

Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and programme manager of Boeing's Commercial Crew Programme, both stated that engineers are still unsure about the cause of the Starliner's troubles.

Nappi stated that one of the aims behind conducting ground tests while the vehicle is still in space is to try to narrow down plausible reasons why the thrusters failed.

Mark Nappi went on: "So, if (the test in New Mexico) comes back and gives us all the answers, then we can just undock and come home." He continued, "If it comes back and says, 'Here's 80% of the solution. And if you just run one more docked hot fire (test on the Starliner in orbit), you'll get all of the answers' — then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can obtain that information."

Helium Leaks

Several more helium leaks were discovered as the vehicle approached the International Space Station, in addition to the engine troubles. CNN stated that the Starliner's service module, a cylindrical attachment at the spacecraft's bottom that provides much of the vehicle's power during flight, had a number of challenges.

According to the design, the service module will not survive the return to Earth. As the Starliner spacecraft reenters the atmosphere, the module is jettisoned and destroyed, therefore Boeing and NASA researchers decided to leave the ship safely docked with the space station while they worked to learn as much as possible about those issues.

Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon

The Boeing’s challenges stand out, particularly in comparison to the Starliner program, CNN reported.

Crew Dragon, which is part of the same NASA Commercial Crew Programme for astronaut transportation, conducted its maiden test flight in 2020 and has been carrying out routine trips since.

SpaceX did not have the advantage of designing the Crew Dragon spacecraft on the back of its Cargo Dragon aircraft, which for years transported supplies to the International Space Station before its replacement began operations, whereas Boeing created the Starliner from scratch.

Nappi elaborated: "We've got a really good test flight that's been accomplished so far, and it's being viewed rather negatively."

According to the most recent update on the ongoing space mission, Expedition 71 crew members packed a US cargo craft on Friday, cleaned up the International Space Station, researched futuristic piloting tactics, and performed eye exams.

What steps did NASA take

NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test crew spent the day reconfiguring a space botany lab. On its live blog, NASA stated: "Robotics controllers are scheduled to detach the Cygnus space freighter from the Unity module on July 12 and release it into Earth orbit for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean ending a five-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab."

NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent the most of his time on Friday putting trash and discarding items inside the Cygnus, with help from fellow NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy Dyson. On February 1, the Canadarm2 robotic arm caught the Cygnus, which was carrying over 8200 pounds of science instruments and crew supplies.

Epps used typical medical imaging equipment found at an optometrist's office on Earth and looked into Dyson's eyes. She examined Dyson's cornea, retina, and lens to help flight surgeons understand and mitigate the effects of microgravity on crew eyesight.

Previously, Dyson collected and stowed excess space station gear for disposal. Throughout the day, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt routed cables and modified communications systems within the Columbus laboratory module.

On Friday, Starliner’s Commander and Pilot, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams in Kibo undertook space botany work.

In the liveblog, NASA said, “NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner’s propulsion system performance before returning to Earth from the orbiting lab. NASA and Boeing leaders participated in a media teleconference today to discuss Starliner and station operations.”

“NASA is now targeting the end of July for the next spacewalk outside the space station. This change allows teams on the ground to continue to troubleshoot and understand the water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit that forced an early end to a spacewalk on Monday, June 24,” it added.

Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques, while Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin spent the day inventorying medical kits and cleaning fans inside the Rassvet module. Station Commander Oleg Kononenko replaced thermal components in Roscosmos’ life support hardware.