NASA has insisted that its two Starliner astronauts are not stranded in orbit as it continues to investigate issues with the thrusters on the spacecraft. which is currently docked at the International Space Station (ISS).
The Starliner brought NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS on June 6 in what was the first crewed trip for the vehicle. But on the final approach to the orbital outpost, it became apparent that five of the Starliner’s thrusters were not functioning in the correct way.
The thrusters serve to maintain the appropriate orientation of the crew capsule and will be vital for guiding the Starliner toward its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere when the vehicle finally returns home. The agency has also been investigating five helium leaks that occurred on the Starliner during its journey to the ISS.
In a media conference streamed online on Friday, Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said: “I want to make it very clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space.”
Stich said the plan is to bring the two astronauts back to Earth on the Starliner and that there was no rush to get the pair home.
The original mission would’ve seen Williams and Wilmore spend about a week aboard the station, but their time in orbit is now approaching the four-week mark with no target date announced for their return.
In a worst-case scenario, if engineers deem the condition of the Starliner too risky for the astronauts to travel in, it’s possible Williams and Wilmore could hitch a ride home on a docked Crew Dragon spacecraft operated by SpaceX. Alternatively, they could wait for a SpaceX Crew Dragon to be prepped and sent for them in a similar way to how a NASA astronaut Frank Rubio and two cosmonauts waited for a Russian Soyuz spacecraft after the one they traveled in suffered damage while docked at the station.