NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore await their return from space while officials race against time to determine the root cause of anomalies found on Boeing’s Starliner during launch. While NASA continues to search for safe options to bring the two astronauts back to Earth, can the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) offer any help in this situation?
ISRO chief S Somnath said, “At present we cannot do anything in the form of direct help as we do not have any vehicle that can go there and rescue it.”
In a podcast with BeerBiceps, Somnath said that only the US and Russia can help bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
“The only possibility is from Russia or the US. The US has the Crew Dragon spacecraft which can go there and Russia has Soyuz which can bring them back. Either of them can rescue them,” the ISRO chief said.
He also said he did not think there were any serious problems at this time between the Starliner and the two astronauts in space.
“Some anomalies were observed in the Boeing Starliner, and [it appears to me that] They [NASA] “We don’t want to take risks… because it has had some problems in the past, even before its launch,” he said.
Somnath said the launch had been postponed several times before, and finally NASA took the risk and went ahead with the launch. “But they don’t want to take the risk in return,” he said.
Somnath said NASA could use the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft for the return mission.
Sunita Williams in Space: A Brief Review
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore became the first astronauts to fly on Boeing’s Starliner Crew Test Mission. They lifted off aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5.
A propulsion-related plumbing leak occurred in their capsule before Wilmore and Williams were set to take off on June 5. Boeing and NASA found the small helium leak to be stable and isolated, and proceeded with the test flight.
But the next day, as Starliner approached the space station, four more leaks popped up. Five thrusters also failed.
SpaceX could have brought the astronauts back, but that would have required them to stay there until February 2025. They were to return after a week or two on the station.
After two Starliner astronauts completed more than two months in space, NASA said Thursday it will decide on Aug. 24 whether Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to return the two astronauts from the International Space Station, where they have been waiting since June.
