Astronauts are stuck on the International Space Station after yet more problems with Boeing’s beleaguered
Starliner (2024)
For the past few weeks, Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) after the first crewed voyage of Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft hit a snag. Concerns raised by Boeing and Nasa over thruster problems and several helium leaks (helium is used in Starliner’s engine system) have prevented the craft from making the return journey as scheduled. Nasa has now said the astronauts may have to stay put until the next scheduled crew switchover in August – potentially on another ship.
Boeing and Nasa are trying to put a positive spin on the extension by saying they are testing systems required for longer Starliner missions. But the project has already suffered several delays, having originally been set to lift off for the first time with crew in 2017. This, combined with the latest problems raise questions over the whole Starliner programme.
Starliner was noted as having a small helium leak before it even launched. Helium is an inert gas (much like neon or xenon), meaning that it is very unreactive with other materials.
This makes it ideal when coming into contact with rocket fuel and high temperatures, although producing it is an expensive process. It is pressurised and used to push fuel into the engines at the correct rate. Helium leaks can mean that not enough fuel will reach a thruster.
The leak spotted while Starliner was on the launch pad was determined to be negligible and the spacecraft was sent to orbit regardless. However, this turned into a larger problem when additional helium leaks were identified following launch, meaning that several of the spacecraft’s small manoeuvring thrusters couldn’t be used.
Four of the five thrusters have been repaired while Starliner has been docked to the ISS, but it raises concern for other thrusters cutting out during the return journey to Earth. On Starliner’s return, re-entering Earth’s atmosphere requires a very specific “angle of attack” to ensure there is not too much friction heating up the vessel.
An inability to adjust the orientation of the craft or the orbital parameters for re-entry could in the worst-case scenario result in massive heat build up and the destruction of the spacecraft with two astronauts on board.
There are additional thrusters and other so-called “redundancies” – back up systems – designed into the spacecraft, so this is a very unlikely scenario. However, so were the helium leaks. While Boeing and Nasa have considered it safe to return on Starliner, it’s perfectly conceivable that the astronauts might have some trepidation and anxiety – especially as these issues did not occur with the uncrewed test flights.
The next particular problem is that Starliner returns and jettisons its service module on re-entry as it returns to the surface on land rather than at sea (like the SpaceX Dragon capsules do). This means that the bit of the spacecraft with all the vital information on will be burned up, making it very difficult to determine what actually went wrong.
Investigations in space
Currently ground tests are being run by Nasa and investigations are being conducted on the ISS to gather as much information as possible before the return.
The astronauts made it up to the ISS and are safe there. While it is likely that Starliner will return to Earth, should a major fault be discovered while it is docked to the ISS, there are other return vehicles that can be used to ferry the two crew members back home.
The astronauts’ safety will no doubt be paramount in the minds of both agency and industry. But this is not the first problem with Starliner. The vehicle has suffered from major delays since conception as part of the Commercial Crew Program in 2010.
The contract indicated that Starliner should be ready by 2017 with a two-year delay before the first successful unmanned launch in 2022 (there was a failed attempt in 2019). The main crewed launch was then delayed by a month.
These delays indicate that Boeing is falling behind its main commercial competitor SpaceX, which won a contract at the same time as Boeing in 2010 to build vehicles that could transport crew to the ISS. SpaceX successfully launched a crewed mission with the Dragon capsule in 2020. To give an indication of the success, Crew Dragon is currently completing its fifth manned mission to the ISS, and has also completed 30 cargo missions.
Boeing has been a major player in space missions with Nasa for decades, playing a major role in the space shuttle programme, for example. This relationship continues with the company’s role in the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will send astronauts on their way to the Moon.
The company has been one of the biggest and most admired contractors in the aerospace industry. However, the problems with the Starliner come not long after widely publicised incidents with Boeing aircraft, so the corporation could do without any further problems with its crewed spacecraft to add to its woes.
But engineers have repeatedly delayed their return flight, because of safety concerns about the capsule. Since then, they have been stuck indefinitely on the spacecraft, as engineers work to check whether the Starliner would be safe to return.
Boeing said in July that after rigorous ground tests, engineers pinpointed issues within the Starliner, including the abrupt malfunction of thrusters and helium leaks. In a 2 August statement, the company said its “confidence remains high in Starliner's return with crew”.
Shortly after launch, Boeing's Starliner encountered several technical issues, including helium leaks and failures in five of its 28 thrusters. These problems raised concerns about the spacecraft's ability to safely return the astronauts to Earth, leading to delays in their planned return.
In short: NASA has decided two of its astronauts stuck on the International Space Station since June will remain there for another six months. The agency said its decision was made in light of safety concerns over Boeing's troubled Starliner.
After almost three months, the decision finally came down from NASA's highest ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back in a SpaceX spacecraft in February.
According to Federal Pay, astronauts would rank at GS 12-13, translating to $84,365 to $115,079 according to 2024 GS rates. However, NASA's website lists its 2024 astronaut pay as $152,258 a year; its 2020 call for astronaut candidates listed a range of $104,898 to $161,141 at GS levels 13-14.
Radiation. ISS astronauts are officially classed as radiation workers, and that makes radiation one of the biggest dangers on the Space Station. A single day on board the ISS could expose astronauts to up to one millisievert, roughly four months' worth of typical UK background radiation.
A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the new capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the flight back.
Exploration missions that leave the Earth's protective sphere, however, will have to overcome many challenges, from conditions in space such as cosmic radiation and hazardous environments to human-specific conditions such as space adaptation syndrome (motion sickness), spatial memory, visual motor performance, bone ...
For NASA service missions to the International Space Station, it will carry up to four NASA-sponsored crew members and time-critical scientific research. The Starliner has an innovative, weldless structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time.
As of now, the Starliner astronauts are living among the seven members of Expedition 71 who arrived at the space station in April. Of those in Expedition 71, four are part of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission that was slated to depart the station in August before the Crew-9 delay.
Starliner, in fact, is rated to stay as long as 210 days on orbit once operational missions begin, he pointed out. But, as this is only Starliner's third mission in space, and its first with astronauts, NASA had been unsure about the battery performance in orbit before now.
Long-term exposure causes multiple health problems, one of the most significant being loss of bone and muscle mass. Over time these deconditioning effects can impair astronauts' performance, increase their risk of injury, reduce their aerobic capacity, and slow down their cardiovascular system.
"NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew 9 next February and that Starliner will return uncrewed," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a post-readiness review news conference on Saturday.
There are just very few particles coming into contact with anything. If there are no particles colliding, then there is nothing to transfer energy to. In other words, your warm body might be in space that is incredibly cold. But the cold in space is only in those few particles that hardly ever collide with your body.
A: The ISS missions, called expeditions, usually last about six months. There are three to six crewmembers on board at all times. Professional astronaut crews come from the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe. NASA astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria has flown the longest U.S. space station mission to date, at 215 days.
Since its first modules launched at the end of 1998, the International Space Station has been orbiting 250 miles above Earth. But at the end of 2030, NASA plans to crash the ISS into the ocean after it is replaced with a new space station, a reminder that nothing within Earth's orbit can stay in space forever.
Zero gravity causes the fluids in your body to rise to your head, which feels like a constant head cold. Astronauts are required to exercise two hours per day, using the treadmill or stationary bicycle, to avoid the bone and muscle deterioration that occurs in zero gravity.
If you stay for a long time in space, your muscles and bones will weaken, primarily in the legs and lower back. Gravity always acts on you while you're on the earth, so even if you're not really conscious of resisting gravity, you're always using the muscles of your lower body.
Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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