Sunita Willams and Butch Willmore are stuck in space due to Boeing Starliner failure and there seems to be no prospect of return till 2025!
Astronauts Sunita Wiliams and Butch Willmore are stuck in International Space Station (ISS) for 63 days due to failures in Boeing’s Starliner Orbiter. Originally scheduled to return on June 13th, both astronauts now may have to stay the next eight months stuck in space.
Chronological Accounts of the Events:
- On June 5th the Starliner was launched and started its 25-hour space flight to the ISS. Initially, the mission was for 8 days, as the crew were set to return on the 13th of June.
- Upon launch, the orbiter showed several Helium leaks in its five thrusters, which made NASA postpone the return for several days.
- The astronauts have been stuck in ISS since then and according to NASA this stay could continue for the next eight months. Meanwhile, the astronauts are facing health risks and supply depletion 220 miles above Earth.
The Leaks and NASA’s Attempt to Fix it
The leaks in the Starliner are related to a valve in the propulsion system. The valve responsible for regulating oxidisers in the thrusters is not functioning properly causing it to remain open. The oxidiser Helium in rocket propulsion aids the fuel and creates thrust that lifts and manoeuvres the spacecraft properly. This defect here resulted in faulty thrusters which are unable to manoeuvring and land the orbiter on Earth. Out of the five thrusters, four were to be used during the time of the return, however, now all five thrusters are showing leaks which makes the astronauts’ return uncertain.
Apart from that the orbiter initially was given a 45-day lifetime to conduct its missions safely as the battery of the capsule lasts for that duration as certified by NASA. However, after this issue, NASA approved extending this period to another 45 days. This however puts a question mark on whether the orbiter is safe to carry out the return even if the thrusters were fixed.
As of now, there is no concrete plan NASA has, to bring back Sunita and Butch. The space organisers tried to repair the thrusters from the command centre on Earth but that did not give any satisfactory result. On Tuesday Steve Stich, manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA hinted at the possibility of the astronauts’ return on SpaceX’s Crew 9 mission return. The Crew 9 is a four-person mission to be initiated in mid-August but postponed to September 25. Though the plans are not finalised, the SpaceX shuttle may carry only two astronauts and bring back Sunita and Butch on its return flight which is speculated to take place in February of 2025.
NASA and Boeing were aware of the Faulty Orbiter!
According to Boeing whistleblower reports the mission heads from both NASA and Boeing were aware of the helium leaks but still approved the mission to be carried out. Upon launch the situation worsened and more leaks started happening in the thrusters.
The Boeing Starline since its inception in 2011 has been a display of faulty engineering and mission failure. The Starliner orbiter capsule was built as a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a partnership between the agency and private companies to ferry astronauts into low Earth orbit following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttles.
In its first uncrewed space flight, the orbiter was placed into the wrong orbit because of a software issue and its second attempt failed due to a valve issue. Last year the company had to fix issues with the capsule’s parachutes and remove around a mile (1.6 kilometres) of tape that was found to be flammable. This mission was its first crewed mission which was scrubbed in its first two attempts causing a delay of several months. The first time was due to its incompatibility with the launch vehicle and the send time was because of a computer glitch in the ground launch sequencer.
Also, during the initial days of the thruster failure, both NASA and Boeing vehemently denied any shortcomings of the shuttle and stated that the delays were planned. Steve Stich in a press conference in July stated that both the astronauts are not stranded and will be brought back to earth on Boeing’s Starliner. The premature extension of the safety duration of Starliner’s capsule battery also hinted at last minute effort to salvage the mission as well as the reputation of Boeing’s orbiter.
Endangerment of Astronauts’ lives:
Meanwhile, it is the astronauts whose lives are in danger. Despite knowing about the faulty valves, the mission was green-lit for launch. If the same happened for the return mission the capsule could have caught fire during its re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere. In another scenario modular mismanagement due to manoeuvre issues could have flung the shuttle back into space, resulting in an unknown trajectory with no prospect of return.
There are also health implications when it comes to astronauts staying in ISS for a long period. Both the astronauts now face the risk of bone and muscle degradation and radiation exposure. In ISS astronauts experience radiation exposure ranging from 50-20000 milli-sieverts, which is equivalent to 150-6000 chest X-rays. This long exposure increases the risk of tissue damage, nervous system impairment and cancer. There also the astronauts experience microgravity which in long exposure can lead to bone and muscle deterioration at the rate of one percent of their bone mass each month.
This saga however exposes the substandard workmanship at Boeing and the company’s influence over NASA to cover for a crucial blunder. Boeing is involved in various military and space projects with the US government. But in recent years its substandard manufacturing was exposed through several incidents where the company’s equipment malfunctions and put the lives of common people and professionals in danger. After this saga, NASA also started investigating its relationship with the company. In a Thursday report, NASA’s Office of Inspector General highlighted Boeing’s manufacturing shortcomings in accordance with NASA’s safety standards and several project delays.
At the crucial moment, however, NASA assured that the organisation is working on all options to bring back the astronauts with their safety being the utmost priority.