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The two astronauts, Sunny Williams and Butch Wilmore, also did not expect to embark on a hellish mission. They launched three times until they completed this part of the mission. Their ordeal continued at the base. The return on June 13 was postponed first to June 18, and then to June 28, because of the failure of five of the 28 maneuvering engines and the detection of a small helium leak. And now the experts dare not even worry, so NASA suspended the return indefinitely.
NASA previously stated in a blog post that the leak did not pose a safety risk to astronauts.
Boeing’s first manned spacecraft has taken off – Video
“It only takes seven hours of free flight time to normally complete the mission, and the remaining helium in Starliner’s tank is enough for 70 hours of free flight activities after docking” – The announcement stated that the astronauts were not in danger and that the Starliner would be able to return to Earth if an emergency occurred on the International Space Station.
However, space researchers who spoke to the BBC expressed concerns about the expedition.
“Maybe they didn’t take into account the worsening of the leak after launch.” This is something NASA and Boeing should have done. Obviously, this is an extremely expensive process because the rocket has to be removed from the launch pad and then the propulsion system has to be removed from the spacecraft – Dr. Simeon Barber, space researcher at the Open University, said: “I cannot understand why the two previous unmanned test flights of Starliner did not reveal these problems, which could have been solved.” If they don’t understand the problems, they have to make risky decisions, which is true of every step in space research.
As a last resort, the astronauts could return to Earth in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, but that would be extremely embarrassing for Boeing. However, Dr. Baker said there was no need for an emergency just yet.
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