Sunita Williams’ return uncertain: NASA raises ‘spacesuit’ issue in ‘risky’ mission, says it’s our biggest concern… | Mint

Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are awaiting a decision from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA has yet to decide on several issues – the date for the Starliner astronauts’ return from space, whether to send the Boeing spacecraft back without a crew, or whether to bring back two astronauts aboard either the Starliner or the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

“We’re getting to a point where we should really be making a decision in the last week of August, if not before,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said in his latest update on the Starliner launch.

“Everybody would like a date, but we do have some working dates, but I know we need to keep that flexibility… Right now, Butch and Sunny are well and truly busy on the ISS… I know they’re making the best use of their time, but I’m sure they’re as anxious as the rest of us are to have a decision, and when we do make that decision, we’ll certainly meet with all of you and share that information,” Bowersox said.

starliner saga

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore took off on the Starliner on June 5. They arrived at the International Space Station on June 6. They were supposed to return to Earth by mid-June. However, their plans were derailed after several problems were found in the Starliner capsule: problems in the propulsion system, a helium leak and a thruster malfunction. The Starliner has now spent more than two months in space.

The Starliner crew and officials on the ground are working to find the root cause of the problem and return the two NASA astronauts safely to Earth. Their priority is to get Sunita and Butch back on the Starliner. However, NASA officials are considering the option of using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft for the return mission if the Starliner is not healthy enough.

‘Risky’ human spaceflight missions

Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said astronauts prepare for every possibility before their human space flight. He said, “Butch and Suni [Sunita Williams] He said before his launch that he knew the mission might not be perfect. Human spaceflight is inherently risky, and as astronauts, we accept that.”

Sunita Williams’ wait gets longer

Montalbano said that if Butch and Sunita don’t come home on Starliner, and are kept on the station, “they will have about eight months in orbit.” If the two astronauts come on a SpaceX spacecraft, they will return to Earth by February 2025.

If it is decided not to use the Starliner, Boeing’s rival SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, could potentially launch NASA’s scheduled Crew-9 mission on September 24 to the ISS with just two astronauts instead of the usual four. The Crew Dragon capsule would then be able to return to Earth with Wilmore and Williams in February 2025.

‘This is not a NASA accident’

Officials said Wednesday that if NASA decides to make a change to the mission, which would require the crew to return home on an aircraft other than Starliner, “we do not need to consider this a NASA accident.”

He added that an accident could also happen later if, for some reason, certain events occur while the Starliner is on its way home with its crude oil. “But just the fact that if NASA intervenes and says, ‘Hey, now we want our crew to come home on another spacecraft,’ that should be considered an accident in itself.”

‘Our biggest concern is this…’

NASA officials said, “Our biggest concern is a successful deorbit burn and keeping the propulsion system functioning as required during the deorbit burn, and that’s why we’re watching the thruster jets so closely and even looking at how the largest thrusters work…”

Starliner’s propulsion system is part of the spacecraft’s “service module.” The problems center on this system, which is needed to propel the Starliner capsule away from the ISS and dive into Earth’s atmosphere. Several of Starliner’s thrusters overheated when fired, and leaks of helium – which is used to pressurize the thrusters – appear to be linked to the frequency of their use.

Spacesuit problem: ‘They might come home without a suit…’

Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said the two astronauts could return to Crew-8 without suits in an emergency. He said additional SpaceX flight suits would be flown on the Crew-9 Dragon so they could return home for their scheduled trip.

During the media interaction, officials were asked whether the Starliner would return without a crew and whether any special equipment, particularly the SpaceX flight suits that were sent for Butch and Sunita on the recent “Science flight,” would be available.

In response, the official said, “From a suit perspective, they’re not really interchangeable. You can’t put a Boeing suit in SpaceX or a SpaceX suit in a Boeing vehicle, so that’s not going to be the plan. If Starliner undocks and there’s only Dragon, they can come home in Dragon without the suits…”

“Once Crew-9 gets there we’ll have suits,” said Joel Montalbano, “They’ll wear the suits on Crew-9 and come home.”