Two NASA astronauts who traveled to the ISS on the Boeing Starliner have given an update from orbit, but won't be traveling home any time soon.
Two NASA astronauts will remain on the International Space Station for at least several more weeks, as testing continues on the troubled Boeing Starliner that carried them to the station on its first crewed test flight. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safe on the station and, NASA insists, not stranded, but they will not yet be returning home due to thruster issues with their spacecraft.
Recommended Videos As part of the astronauts’ evaluation of the spacecraft, they give a grade from one to 10 on a scale called the Cooper–Harper rating scale, with one being the best possible. “I’ve never given a one in all my flight test years on a Cooper-Harper rating scale for handling qualities, but I was tempted,” he said.
Williams gave details about what the pair have been up to during their time on the ISS, including checking over the Starliner and testing that it would hold four people comfortably. They have also been working with other members of the current ISS crew on maintenance tasks on the station, like replacing pumps and working on science research.
In a later press update, NASA and Boeing representatives discussed the issues further. “We’re taking our time on the ground to go through all the data that we have before we decide on the return opportunity. We’re taking time to build confidence in the spacecraft, to understand the thruster performance,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, who detailed some of the testing being done regarding the thruster issues. “What we’re doing is not unusual for a new spacecraft.
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