NASA has confirmed that no return date has been set for astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS).
On the launch of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on June 5, 2024, it had been expected that the pair of astronauts would return around a week later after spending time aboard the ISS.
However, issues with the capsule’s thrusters and helium leaks meant that Wilmore and Williams’s time in space has been extended while NASA and Boeing work to iron out the problems.
According to the Associated Press, NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said that staff were not yet ready to announce a return date.
“We’ll come home when we’re ready,” Stich said.
The plan is still for the Starliner crew to return on their spacecraft, though another option is for the astronauts to hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule which is also currently docked at the ISS.
Last month, a spokesperson for Boeing said that the helium leaks and most of the thruster problems were no longer an issue affecting the Starliner’s return.
According to The Guardian, the spokesperson said at the time: “Four of the five thrusters that were previously shutting down are now operating normally. This means only one thruster out of 27 is currently offline. This does not present an issue for the return mission.”
On July 23, 2024, NASA confirmed that engineers had recently completed ground hot fire testing of a Starliner reaction control system thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.
“The test series involved firing the engine through similar in-flight conditions the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station, as well as various stress-case firings for what is expected during Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that will position the spacecraft for a landing in the southwestern United States,” NASA said.
NASA previously announced that three helium leaks had been detected on board Starliner on June 5, 2024, around 12 hours into its mission to ISS.
The space agency said that one of the leaks had been discussed before launch and it was decided that the mission was safe to proceed with the crew facing no danger.