NASA: No return date yet for astronauts aboard ISS

FOX 4 ^ | July 25, 2024 | Catherine Stoddard

[george76]

Two NASA astronauts who were supposed to return from the International Space Station over a month ago are still orbiting Earth as engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing Starliner capsule, officials said Thursday.

Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.

No return date yet..

NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers were not ready to announce a return date.

...

Starliner launched on June 5, the third attempt in just under a month to get the spacecraft safely into the atmosphere. It experienced one helium leak before blasting off and two more leaks before docking with the ISS, NASA previously said.

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TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: boeing; butchwilmore; corrupticrats; demagogicparty; faagroundedspacex; flyinglemon; iss; makelemonade; nasa; starjunker; starliner; stranded; suniwilliams

[Jane Long]

Horrific.

Prayers up for these astronauts.

[tet68]

Last I saw there was talk of doing a hot fire test of the thrusters, with it docked to the station...

[caww]

I thought Elon Musk was preparing and sending a rescue ship?

[xp38]

so far it looks like if it’s Boeing ya ain’t going

[Reno89519]

I’m sure they are enjoying their vacation. Ultimately I won’t be surprised if they don’t catch a ride back with Space-X.

[Dogbert41]

Time to dust off this old flick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNbY5n1zh-s

Marooned.

[MplsSteve]

Boeing’s Starliner program has been jinxed from the start.

It’s highly unfortunate and embarrassing to Boeing. They’re still trying to get out from under the shadow of the 737 Max debacle.

[BradyLS]

“Vaccines”, electric cars, driverless cars, space capsules, defunding the police, no-bail and reduced-bail… More and more things are being tested with human guinea pigs years ahead of when they should be.

[Delta 21]

Definitely not stranded or marooned.

[know.your.why]

Gonna run out of vodka soon.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

[T.B. Yoits]

This isn't just about testing things on human guinea pigs - Boeing knew they had problems with their Starleaker before they launched and sent them up anyway. Boeing's first attempt in 2019 failed due to software and equipment failures.

This wasn't about a test; it was about incompetence, politics, and money.

[gunnut]

Apollo 13 was only 6 or 7 days.

[Navy Patriot]

Good thing NASA uses Environmentally Friendly materials in it’s spacecraft and the the staff are all DEI compliant.

[Telepathic Intruder]

Where is a superhero when you need him?

[Theophilus]

The Starleaker astronuts are not "stranded"

[lee martell]

This is awful. It’s not yet over, but doesn’t look very encouraging. I imagine there are many potential astronaut career candidates still in their first college, just thinking about one day being an Astronaut. Some may be having second thoughts due to this still unanswered riddle.

I’ve heard people say they ‘don’t care’ if the first few trips to Venus or Mars becomes a one way venture, good only for the gathering of more data. That’s easy to say in theory, but when you realize a few folks right now may be on a cruise of futility, one might have second thoughts.

[Campion]

It’s mostly awful for Boeing and their stockholders. The astronauts will make it home one way or the other ... maybe not on the spacecraft they started out on.

[SpaceBar]

They have space food sticks and Tang. They’ll be okay.