JAKARTA – The Starliner spaceplane was scheduled to leave the International Space Station (ISS) on June 25. However, the return schedule has been postponed again by NASA and Boeing.
The timetable for Starliner’s return must be postponed again because NASA technicians have not finished studying the problem in the propulsion system. With this decision, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay on the ISS longer.
So far, NASA has postponed the Starliner return schedule four times. However, unlike the previous three delays, NASA only revealed that Starliner and its crew of planes would be repatriated in early July.
“(we) assess the chances of a future return of the spacecraft following a spacewalk scheduled for July 2, the second of two planned spacewalks to the ISS,” NASA said, as cited by Spacenews.
Meanwhile, NASA Commercial Equipment Program Manager Steve Stitch said technicians try to follow the mission management team’s standards. They continue to observe and find solutions to the hedium leak and propulsion performance issues.
“We allow the data to drive our decision-making when it comes to managing small leaks from the hem system and propulsion performance that we observe in meetings and docking,” Stitch explained.
However, with the least amount of technician time available, NASA will conduct an institution-level review to expedite observations. This is done so that Starliner stays on the ISS for no more than a month.
Tag: nasa technology
