NASA astronauts stranded on International Space Station due to breakdown of Boeing Starliner space shuttle.
Butch Willmore and Suni Williams flew on Starliner last week as they docked with the International Space Station, but on June 14, five different leaks were detected in the capsule, including helium. This gas is responsible for maintaining the necessary pressure in the fuel system of the engines so that it works normally.
In addition, during the flight, four engines out of 28 failed. Because of this, the ship could not dock with the ISS. The engines are small and needed to correct the orbit and change the orientation of the spacecraft. The failure of seven engines is not yet critical.
The astronauts were supposed to return to Earth this Friday, but the mission was postponed for a week – until June 22. During this time, they test the system and engines.
Currently, NASA is studying the possibility of conducting a rescue operation, but the astronauts have limited time – the ship can only stay docked to the station for 45 days.
Current flight the Starliner spacecraft is the first test flight of a Boeing spacecraft to the ISS with humans. Previously, there were already two launches. At the end of 2019, it failed due to software errors, the craft did not have enough fuel to dock with the ISS and return to Earth.
The return flight took place in 2022, the craft delivered cargo and after a few days on the ISS, returned safely to Earth .