NASA Astronauts Stranded on ISS: Boeing’s Starliner Delays Return Amid Safety Concerns

Wilmore and Williams left for the ISS on June 5. They traveled on the new Starliner spaceship, developed by Boeing. A helium leak was detected during the flight. There was also such a problem before the release. In addition, there were problems with the movement of the spacecraft.

These problems have not been solved yet. Boeing did all kinds of tests on Earth recently with other Starliner engines to see if the spacecraft could return to Earth safely. At the same time, other options are also being explored, but recovering the two stranded astronauts certainly does not seem to be an option in the short term.

According to space expert Jeroen Glazener, one of the options now is for NASA to return the Boeing Starliner to Earth without personnel. “That’s fine in itself, there’s a high degree of automation so there’s no need for astronauts. ”

The reason the Starliner could return unmanned, but not with the two astronauts on board, lies in the safety concerns. “There’s a 99 percent chance it will go well,” Glazener said. “But the standard is that the chance of something going wrong should be less than 1 in 300.”

LocationX

There is also a plan B. But for this they rely on SpaceX. “A spacecraft from that company will leave for the ISS soon. The plan then is that of the four astronauts who will go on, two will stay on Earth. So that the two astronauts can return with that device in the February.”

That could be called an embarrassment for Boeing, if another company is needed to return the astronauts to Earth safely. It also has implications for SpaceX’s planned mission, Glazener knows.

“The personal safety of the two astronauts is assured, but the result is that there will not be two astronauts who are fully trained for the tests that need to take place for the next six months. They really don’t have a place.”

The mission with the Starliner is now starting to turn into a big soap opera. The mission was delayed for years due to previous failures.

Small success

With the Starliner, Boeing wants to compete with the Dragon from SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, but that craft has already flown safely to the ISS and back more than twenty times.

For Boeing it is only the third flight, and only one of them can be described as a successful part.