The NASA man, Steve Stich, nonetheless hopes Boeing can get these astronauts again. However “We do not have a significant announcement in the present day relative to a return date,” mentioned Steve Stich, this system supervisor for NASA’s Industrial Crew Program. (They have been up 50 days on an 8-day mission.) pic.twitter.com/zvTZXc8a2f
— Bev Harris (@BevHarrisWrites) July 25, 2024
It’s unusual that “trapped astronauts” shouldn’t be a much bigger story, no?
I assume they’re effective. However they won’t be effective indefinitely.
Two Nasa astronauts on Boeing’s Starliner capsule will stay on the Worldwide Area Station with no official return date but, Nasa and Boeing officers mentioned on Thursday morning, as engineers proceed to look at the technical issues with the spacecraft.Take a look at pilots Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams first departed for the station roughly seven weeks in the past, in early June, on a check mission that was meant to final a couple of week. However the capsule’s undocking was delayed due to defective thrusters and small helium leaks that raised security issues.
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On Thursday, Nasa and Boeing officers mentioned they weren’t able to announce a return date, and that the pilots would stay on the area station till the engineers end engaged on and analyzing the problems with the capsule.
“We’ll come house once we’re prepared,” Steve Stich, Nasa’s industrial crew program supervisor mentioned within the press convention, in line with the Related Press. He additionally acknowledged that backup choices are beneath evaluation, together with utilizing different capsules to get the astronauts house safely, which he mentioned was a high precedence.
So is a part of the scenario right here that they don’t need to ask Russia to assist?
Russia would assist.
That may be the worst optics ever, to have the US unable to get their very own individuals again as a result of their expertise is so shit that they’re pressured to ask the Russians for assist.
The optics are already horrible, nevertheless, and simply ending the issue is perhaps higher than no matter is going on now.
What precisely is going on now?
This was the primary use of this Boeing pod, the Starliner, which was introduced in 2010 and ended up going $1.5 billion over-budget throughout delays. Apparently it was simply… constructed badly.
It’s form of ridiculous that it could not have been examined, unmanned. These are engineering failures. The factor was by no means going to work. “Defective thrusters” shouldn’t be a minor downside. Thrusters are a core part of the machine.
