NASA astronauts unexpectedly spend July 4 at the International Space Station

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spent an unexpected Fourth of July aboard the International Space Station, but it was hardly a patriotic display of technical prowess.

The two NASA astronauts arrived at the space station on June 6 for what was supposed to be an eight-day mission. But their return home could be delayed for months. It has been a devastating test flight for Boeing’s new Starliner capsule.

Not only has the launch of the spacecraft carrying astronauts for the first time been repeatedly delayed due to multiple problems, but NASA and Boeing are also taking a cautious approach to returning the pair to Earth, mainly due to five thrusters that failed during docking.

Four of the small engines that propel the craft through space are now working properly, but engineers don’t have a clear picture of what caused the shutdown. So they decided to conduct ground tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, NASA officials said. The tests will put a Starliner thruster through its paces in a simulated space environment.

The delay will also allow engineers to further study a helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion system, which was first discovered before launch and worsened as Starliner made its way to the space station, about 250 miles above Earth. The gas is used to pressurize Starliner’s propulsion system.

However, both the company and the space agency stressed at a news conference earlier this week that the astronauts are not stranded in space and that, if necessary, they can board the Starliner and return to Earth immediately if an emergency occurs aboard the space station.

“We are not stuck on the ISS. The crew is not in danger and there is no increased risk if we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” said Mark Nappi, manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program.

Ken Bowersox, an associate administrator at NASA, said the delay allows for more data to be collected and that there is no rush to get the astronauts back. “We have the luxury of time,” he said.

Before launch, NASA had said that the batteries on board Starliner would last 45 days, but during the press conference they indicated that they were doing fine and would last another 45 days. During regular missions to service the space station, Starliner would remain docked for six months.

Additionally, NASA and Boeing will not have a chance to examine the thrusters or investigate the helium leak when Starliner returns, since the propulsion system will be jettisoned before returning to Earth.

Still, the push to conduct ground tests that are expected to take weeks has once again highlighted how far behind Boeing, based in Arlington, Virginia and the world’s largest aerospace company, is compared to SpaceX, Elon Musk’s Hawthorne upstart, at least in its program to service the space station.

Both companies won multibillion-dollar contracts in 2014 to develop their spacecraft, and since 2020, Elon Musk’s Hawthorne-based company has flown more than a half-dozen crews to the space station aboard its Crew Dragon capsule. Boeing, by contrast, has flown just two remote flights, including an initial one that failed to reach orbit and a second in May 2022 that docked with the space lab.

The current astronaut-carrying mission was scheduled to launch last year but was delayed because the flammable tape used extensively on the Starliner needed to be replaced and because of a second problem with the parachute system, which would have delayed its descent if it landed on the southwest side of the planet.

The May 6 launch date of this year was then repeatedly postponed, first because of a faulty valve on the Atlas V rocket that launches Starliner into space. The workhorse rocket is manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Additional launch dates were missed because of the helium leak, which is believed to have been caused by a single seal failure, so software fixes were developed to work around it, but then additional leaks occurred after launch. However, NASA and Boeing officials say the craft has 10 times more helium than it needs to return to Earth.

Boeing reportedly had to absorb $1.5 billion in cost overruns for the Starliner as the company continues to grapple with the fallout from two crashes of its 737 Max 8 jets in 2018 and 2019.

According to the Associated Press, the company is considering whether to plead guilty to a fraud charge over allegations it misled regulators who approved the new, larger version of the 737, and is also considering how much flight training pilots would need.

Boeing also announced this week plans to acquire Spirit AeroSystems, a major supplier it spun off in 2005 as it outsourced more work on its commercial jets. Spirit supplied the fuselage for the Alaska Airline Max 9 that suffered a panel blowout on Jan. 5 while en route to Ontario International Airport in San Bernardino County. Boeing’s CEO called the acquisition “in the best interest of the flying public.”

Meanwhile, SpaceX last month was awarded a whopping $843 million contract by NASA to build a spacecraft that will pilot the International Space Station out of Earth’s orbit so it can burn up in the atmosphere when it is decommissioned in 2030.

Bloomberg reported last month that the privately held company is now worth a record $210 billion after the company launched a public offering to insiders that priced its shares at $112.

If Starliner is certified, the decommissioning of the space station would leave only a few planned flights of the spacecraft, leading to speculation that Boeing could end the program.

However, the company says it plans to deploy Starliner to the Orbital Reef space station, which is being developed by Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin.

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.