Two NASA astronauts are getting an unexpected extended stay in space 🌍 as engineers scramble to fix technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule – turning their planned week-long mission into a months-long cosmic detour. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, originally scheduled to return to Earth in mid-June, now face an open-ended timeline while teams troubleshoot thruster failures and helium leaks.
💡 What’s the hold-up? Five of Starliner’s 28 hand-sized maneuvering thrusters failed during docking on June 6. While four have been revived, engineers are still tearing apart a spare thruster in New Mexico desert tests to identify root causes. Suspected helium leaks from degraded seals add another layer to the mystery.
NASA’s Steve Stich kept it real: \"We’ll come home when we’re ready\". The space agency is reviewing backup plans, including SpaceX’s Dragon capsule – though their Falcon 9 rockets are currently grounded too after a recent satellite launch failure 🚀💥.
Starliner’s Rocky Road
This crewed test flight marks Boeing’s latest struggle in the space race:
🚫 2019: First uncrewed demo failed to reach ISS due to software glitches
🔄 2022: Second attempt succeeded after fixes
🛠️ 2024: New propulsion issues delay astronaut return
Meanwhile, SpaceX has completed 12 crewed missions since 2020, though their current rocket pause could ripple through NASA’s launch schedule. As teams work through weekends testing thrusters docked at the ISS, one thing’s clear: space travel remains as unpredictable as ever 🌠.
