Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are believed to have been exposed to helium leaks on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, but NASA and Boeing officials have refuted reports that they are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS).
Instead, they are taking their time to fully assess the situation before the astronauts return to Earth.
Though there may have been helium leaks on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, NASA and Boeing officials have refuted reports that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) and that they are taking their time to fully understand the situation before the astronauts return to Earth.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew programme manager cleared the air on the big news saying, “I want to make it real clear that we’re not in any rush to come home,” adding, “The station is a nice, safe place to stop and take our time to work through the vehicle and make sure we’re ready to come home.”
MUST READ: Obama Stands By Biden Despite Debate Setback; Election’s Stakes Remain High
The performance of Starliner’s propulsion system is currently being evaluated by NASA and Boeing prior to its return to Earth from the orbiting laboratory. The next spacewalk outside the space station is now scheduled for the end of July, according to an announcement made by the US space agency.
With this adjustment, ground teams can proceed with debugging and comprehending the water leak in the cooling and service umbilical unit that caused the spacewalk on June 24 to finish early.
The astronauts’ initial plan called for them to spend eight days aboard the orbiting space laboratory, but they arrived on June 6.
Seven hours are needed for a typical spacecraft end-of-mission, and NASA reports that the spacecraft “currently has enough helium left in its tanks to support 70 hours of free flight activity following undocking.”
View this post on Instagram
A space probe owned by NASA, Voyager 1, has returned to service following a seven-month period of technical issues. The probe started sending odd, unintelligible data in November 2023, which caused issues. Since then, the group has been attempting to fix the problem.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, two Indian American NASA astronauts, are presently trapped in space and are having difficulty making it back to Earth.
As a Russian satellite shattered into pieces and the debris approached the International Space Station, NASA immediately ordered everyone on this mission to take shelter in Boeing’s Starliner spaceship while it worked out a safe method to send them back, as reported by Reuters.
Notably, the Starliner ship, which departed Earth on June 6, is currently docked with the International Space Station.
ALSO READ: India-US Agrees To Extend 2% Digital Tax On E-commerce Supplies Until June 30
