In June 2024, NASA faced a serious problem. Despite the discovery of a helium leak from the Starliner spacecraft, the management still decided to use it to send two astronauts to the ISS. The leak was small, so everyone assumed that the gas would be enough for a round trip. But everything turned out to be much more serious: several more holes were subsequently found through which helium was leaking. Also, during the approach to the space station, some of the ship's engines failed. The astronauts were supposed to return to Earth on June 14, but their return flight was postponed several times and they are still in space. And this is not the only problem that American astronauts have faced recently.
NASA astronauts faced several problems at once. Source: wired.com
Contents
- 1 NASA astronauts cannot return to Earth
- 2 When the Starliner crew will fly back
- 3 Who can save NASA astronauts
- 4 Astronauts could not go into outer space
NASA astronauts cannot return to Earth
NASA astronauts are stuck on the ISS due to two problems. First, a helium leak was discovered before the flight – this gas is necessary to create pressure in the fuel and oxidizer tanks to supply them to the engines. Four more leaks occurred during the flight, and five of the Starliner spacecraft's 28 space maneuvering engines failed. Four of them were eventually relaunched, but the Boeing aircraft did not perform at its best.
Starliner docking with the ISS. Source: newsweek.com
The mission was expected to last about a week. Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams departed for the ISS on June 5, 2024, and were scheduled to return on June 14. But NASA management postponed their return several times, while assuring that the helium leak does not pose any threat to the safety of astronauts. If it leaked completely, the Starliner could lose control. But to successfully complete the mission, helium is required for 7 hours of flight time, while gas tanks remain for 70 hours of flight time after undocking.
Despite all this, after additional summit meetings, NASA decided to postpone the return Starliner crew for July 2024. No details were given about the reasons for this decision.
Even more details about the incident:Starliner spacecraft stuck on the ISS: are Russian Soyuz still the best?
< h2>When the Starliner crew flies back
NASA representatives emphasized that their astronauts were not “stuck” on the ISS. According to them, the Starliner spacecraft is certified to return to Earth in case of emergency.
At the moment, flight engineers are busy studying the spacecraft; they want to understand the underlying causes of the malfunctions that have arisen. It will be impossible to do this later, because the capsule with the crew will fall to Earth by parachute, and the spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere. It will be destroyed, and engineers will no longer have the opportunity to find out what caused the breakdown.
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who cannot return to Earth. Source: BBC
According to rocket scientist Adam Baker, he understands why NASA decided to launch the spacecraft even if there was a leak. It was insignificant, and the crew was definitely not in danger. If the agency decided to fix the problem on the spot, the rocket would have to be removed from the site and put back after repairs, which would have entailed additional financial losses. At the same time, Adam Baker believes that the leak should have been fixed.
Other specialists had other questions. For example, space scientist Simeon Barber did not understand why NASA and Boeing did not find a problem during unmanned tests of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.
Everyone should know this:How spacecraft work rockets – the simplest explanation
Who can save NASA astronauts
Be that as it may, the ship's crew still remains aboard the ISS. If they can't return on the Starliner, Elon Musk can come to the rescue with his SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. But in this case, Boeing's reputation will be greatly damaged and it will be in an extremely awkward position. Just imagine: you developed a spaceship, it broke down, and your competitor came to fix the situation. I wonder what will happen if you need help from Roscosmos? Will NASA astronauts return home on Soyuz?
Will Elon Musk really save everyone again? Source: rg.ru
Read also:Elon Musk wants to send a million people to Mars – they will never return to Earth
Astronauts were unable to go into outer space
The Starliner spacecraft is not the only headache for NASA. The “90th US spacewalk” was scheduled for June 24, during which astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt were supposed to remove a faulty device from a communications antenna and collect microbial samples from the station’s skin.
Astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt were able to go into outer space due to water in their spacesuit. Source: cnn.com
The live broadcast of this event began three hours before the spacewalk. The astronauts put on their spacesuits, after which the hatch was opened to the outside. But suddenly Tracy Dyson announced that water, which is used for cooling, had leaked into her suit. NASA management considered that nothing bad should happen, but postponed the spacewalk indefinitely due to the risk of water getting into the electronics.
To stay up to date with everything that happens on the ISS, subscribe to our Telegram channel. You can leave comments there!
How all these problems will be solved is not clear – time will tell. If something important happens, we will definitely tell you about it, so stay tuned to the site for updates.