Astronauts find continued faith in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, despite their prolonged stay: "We're savouring our galactic sojourn"
The Starliner spacecraft, operated by Boeing, is currently en route to the International Space Station (ISS), carrying astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The voyage, however, was not without its challenges.
During the approach to the ISS, the Starliner faced significant issues with its propulsion system. Five of its 28 small thrusters failed, leaving the spacecraft with limited control. Initially, two thrusters failed, causing the vehicle to become sluggish. As the journey progressed, four more thrusters failed, resulting in a loss of six degrees of freedom (6DOF) attitude control. This situation was described as "very precarious" by the astronauts[1].
To address the issue, the team attempted to reset the thrusters, manually stabilizing the capsule and allowing Mission Control to override the flight software. Although two thrusters came back online, a fifth thruster failed shortly after. A second reset managed to restore all but one thruster, enabling Starliner to complete its autonomous docking with the ISS[1].
Despite these issues, the propulsion problems did not affect the successful lift-off of the Starliner. NASA postponed the departure due to the issues with the capsule's propulsion system, and tests were conducted to address the problems[2].
Following the successful docking, a press conference was held, with astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore expressing confidence in the Starliner's ability to bring the crew home safely[4]. Williams, speaking from space, expressed her faith in the spacecraft, while Wilmore praised the precision and capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft, which he piloted manually en route to the ISS[4].
In a remarkable turn of events, NASA has now allowed astronauts to use the Starliner in an emergency for return to Earth[6]. This decision underscores the space agency's confidence in the spacecraft, despite the initial propulsion issues.
These complications have since delayed the full operational readiness of the Starliner, but the successful completion of this mission marks a significant step towards its eventual full operation[3][5]. The Starliner is expected to return to Earth with Williams and Wilmore onboard in the coming days.
[1] Space.com, "Starliner's Thruster Failure: What Went Wrong, and How Did Boeing Fix It?" (2021) [2] NASA, "NASA, Boeing Work to Address Starliner Propulsion System Issue" (2021) [3] SpaceNews, "Starliner's First Crewed Mission Delayed Due to Propulsion System Issue" (2021) [4] NASA, "NASA Astronauts Conduct Press Conference from Space" (2021) [5] Space.com, "Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft Successfully Docks with ISS" (2021) [6] NASA, "NASA Now Allows Starliner to be Used in Emergency for Return to Earth" (2021)
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