NASA's Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has been stranded in space for nearly two months with her partner Barry Wilmore. Both astronauts are present on the International Space Station (ISS). After a malfunction in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, both astronauts have not yet returned. However, now NASA has very little time left to bring back both astronauts.
The Boeing Starliner took both astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5. This mission of the astronauts was only for eight days, but the return of the astronauts was postponed due to a helium leak and a thruster malfunction. This was the first flight of the Boeing Starliner. Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stranded in space for nearly two months. Now NASA has only 16 days left to solve this problem because the Crew-9 mission will come after 16 days.
What was the problem?
The Boeing Starliner took both astronauts into space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission was to check on the first manned flight of a Boeing Starliner. The spacecraft successfully connected with the ISS, but while approaching, five of its 28 thrusters stopped working. Its engineers detected five small helium leaks in the spacecraft's service module. Because of this, the Boeing Starliner has not been able to return to Earth after undocking.
Engineers from US space agencies NASA and Boeing are busy fixing the fault in the spacecraft. But so far, NASA has not been able to fix the date for the return of the astronauts. The thrusters and helium system of the spacecraft are very important for the return. If there is any fault in the Boeing Starliner, it can pose a risk to the astronauts.
Now there will be this problem.
The Crew-9 mission for the International Space Station is going to be launched soon. To connect with its space station, Starliner will first have to be removed from the docking port. This makes the situation even more complicated. The Crew-9 mission may launch before August 18.
SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will carry astronauts Jenna Cardman, Nick Hague, and Stephanie Wilson, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. If the Boeing Starliner remains inoperable, NASA will have to think of a new way to get Williams and Wilmore back to Earth. A SpaceX Dragon capsule may be used. However, the space station has six docking ports that NASA can use.