In a growing concern, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) as engineers continue to fix the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that will take them back to Earth. Originally slated to spend eight days on the orbiting space laboratory, the astronauts reached the ISS on 6th June.
Twenty days later, NASA and Boeing leadership are still adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft which suffered a small helium system leak on its way. Now, according to a Boeing spokesperson, four of the five thrusters that were previously shutting down are operating normally. According to the US space agency, the spacecraft requires seven hours of time to perform a normal end-of-mission and it currently has enough helium left in its tanks to support 70 hours of free flight activity following undocking.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
