Two astronauts are spending extra time at the International Space Station as NASA and Boeing troubleshoot capsule problems that popped up on the way there. The veteran astronauts expected to stay for a week or so at the space station during a test flight of Boeing's new Starliner capsule, the first with a crew.
This photo provided by NASA shows the Starliner spacecraft docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station, orbiting 262 miles above Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, on June 13, 2024. In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024.
The long-delayed test flight is the first with astronauts aboard. Boeing will eventually join SpaceX in ferrying crews to and from the space station for NASA.NASA wants more time to analyze problems in the spacecraft’s propulsion system, which is used to maneuver in flight. The propulsion system is attached to the capsule, but it doesn’t come back to Earth for inspection. It is ditched during reentry and burns up.
The capsule launched June 5 with one small helium leak, but four more leaks sprung up by the time it reached the space station. Helium is used to pressurize fuel for the thrusters, and a faulty rubber seal was suspected in the initial leak. Officials say there’s an amply supply of helium, and Boeing says the leaks are stable and not a concern.
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