NASA, Boeing delay Starliner astronaut landing again, to study helium leaks and thruster issues

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Starliner had been scheduled to come home on June 26, but it will now stay aloft until at least July 2.

Boeing's white and blue Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station in June 2024.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station in June 2024. (Image credit: NASA)

The first astronaut mission of Boeing's Starliner capsule has been extended again.

Starliner will remain docked with the International Space Station (ISS) until at least July 2, roughly a week later than the previously stated target date of June 26. The extra time will allow Boeing and NASA more time to assess several issues that have arisen with the vehicle.

"We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in an update on Friday evening (June 21).  

"We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking," he added.

Starliner's current mission, known as Crew Flight Test (CFT), sent NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS. CFT launched on June 5 and arrived at the orbiting lab a day later.

But, as Stich noted, that arrival was not perfectly smooth. During its chasedown of the ISS, Starliner experienced problems with five of its 28 reaction control system (RCS) thrusters. Four of them were eventually brought back online.

In addition, CFT team members have noticed five small helium leaks in Starliner's propulsion system. One was spotted before launch but not deemed a serious issue; four cropped up after the capsule deployed from its rocket, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V.

Starliner was initially scheduled to spend about a week at the ISS on this shakeout cruise. But on June 9, NASA and Boeing announced that its departure had been pushed back to no earlier than June 18, to accommodate a planned June 13 NASA spacewalk at the ISS and to allow more time for Starliner checkouts.

Then, on Tuesday (June 18), the planned departure date shifted again, to June 26. The reasoning was similar: The extra time would allow a more detailed assessment of the helium leaks and RCS thruster issues. And there was still a spacewalk to accommodate; the planned June 13 excursion was moved to June 24, after one of the designated spacewalkers experienced discomfort with his suit.

NASA plans to conduct another spacewalk on July 2 and also wants that activity to be done before Starliner comes home, agency officials said in Friday's update.

Boeing's Starliner during its final approach to the International Space Station on June 6, 2024. (Image credit: NASA)
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The repeated CFT extensions are not cause for alarm, Stich said, stressing that NASA still has confidence in Starliner.

"Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station," Stich said. "We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni's return on Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions."

Certification involves clearing Starliner to fly six-month astronaut missions to the ISS for NASA. SpaceX already conducts those flights with its Crew Dragon capsule; Elon Musk's company is in the middle of its eighth contracted long-duration crewed mission.

"The crew is not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station's schedule is relatively open through mid-August," NASA officials said in Friday's update.

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Mike Wall
Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • fj.torres
    Those things are heavily automated and Crew Dragon can be configured for up to 7 so adding two more seats to the cargo of the next launch is easy.
    Send Starliner down empty to see how it behaves and bring the two astronauts down on the Dragon up there.
    Too many things are popping up; Boeing is done for. Admit it and move on to Sierra Nevada.
    Reply
  • Bob Braan
    The real reason for the delays is NASA and Boeing are likely having problems convincing the astronauts to get back into this POS for the risky ride home.
    They're no dummies. Test dummies.
    NASA and Boeing knew about a leak and they launched anyway.
    It wasn't considered serious.
    Starliner has sprung 4 more leaks, so far, the thrusters are unreliable and there is an O2 valve issue.
    “We thought we had fixed that problem,” Stich said, adding, “I think we’re missing something fundamental that’s going on inside the thruster.”
    That statement must make the astronauts feel all warm and fuzzy.
    NASA knew about O ring partial burn throughs before the shuttle Challenger disaster.
    It wasn't considered serious.
    And they launched anyway.
    NASA also know about foam falling off and hitting the wing before the Columbia disaster.
    It wasn't considered serious.
    And they launched anyway.
    Both NASA and Boeing have demonstrated safety is not the top priority.
    No wonder the original commander bailed on Starliner after training for years.
    Bailed for "personal reasons" like he preferred not to take the risk.
    Reply
  • Unclear Engineer
    Bob Braan said:
    The real reason for the delays is NASA and Boeing are having problems convincing the astronauts to get back into this POS for the risky ride home.
    I don't think you should post an absolute statement like that unless you have direct information that it is true. Posting even reasonable speculation as fact is not proper.

    I do agree that it appears that NASA is not publicly admitting to a level of concern that seems more appropriate than their public statements indicate.

    And, as I posted here in other threads, I think they have reached the point where they should decide to bring Starliner back autonomously, and bring the astronauts back on a Dragon capsule sent up for that purpose.

    But, that would cost them the "crew certification" that both NASA and Boeing are trying to achieve for Starliner, even if they don't really believe that the capsule is safe enough for crew without further diagnosis and fixes.

    But, I think that is appropriate, at this point in the development process, Starliner just does not seem to be in condition to warrant crew certification, as indicated by the problems already demonstrated in the first part of this flight.

    I hope that both NASA and Boeing are seriously considering how badly a fatality or even an obvious near miss would damage their reputations and possibly even threaten their future existence. This could be NASA's "third strike" on making fatally bad calls in crewed space flights.
    Reply
  • fj.torres
    Unclear Engineer said:
    I do agree that it appears that NASA is not publicly admitting to a level of concern that seems more appropriate than their public statements indicate.

    fj.torres said:
    Those things are heavily automated and Crew Dragon can be configured for up to 7 so adding two more seats to the cargo of the next launch is easy.
    Send Starliner down empty to see how it behaves and bring the two astronauts down on the Dragon up there.
    Too many things are popping up; Boeing is done for. Admit it and move on to Sierra Nevada.
    A further point to consider, CBS just reported that all the problems are all in the service module so while the capsule itself might be safe to land, the thruster issues in the service module might not send it on the proper reentry.

    That is seriously concerning: minor changes in the reentry path would be deadly.

    I'm not sure protecting Boeing's reputation is worth the risk given that alternatives are available. The capsule is supposed to be refurbishable but the service module is expendable which might explain the lower quality (cheaper?) workmanship.
    Reply
  • Coconutwater
    Unclear Engineer said:
    I don't think you should post an absolute statement like that unless you have direct information that it is true. Posting even reasonable speculation as fact is not proper.

    I do agree that it appears that NASA is not publicly admitting to a level of concern that seems more appropriate than their public statements indicate.

    And, as I posted here in other threads, I think they have reached the point where they should decide to bring Starliner back autonomously, and bring the astronauts back on a Dragon capsule sent up for that purpose.

    But, that would cost them the "crew certification" that both NASA and Boeing are trying to achieve for Starliner, even if they don't really believe that the capsule is safe enough for crew without further diagnosis and fixes.

    But, I think that is appropriate, at this point in the development process, Starliner just does not seem to be in condition to warrant crew certification, as indicated by the problems already demonstrated in the first part of this flight.

    I hope that both NASA and Boeing are seriously considering how badly a fatality or even an obvious near miss would damage their reputations and possibly even threaten their future existence. This could be NASA's "third strike" on making fatally bad calls in crewed space flights.
    Fully agree. It is better to bring the Starliner back empty than to put the 2 astronauts in it and have a deadly accident.

    I still remember Challenger blowing up on my television screen in 1986. It is better for Boeing and NASA to lose certification than to lose 2 astronauts.
    Reply
  • fj.torres
    Coconutwater said:
    Fully agree. It is better to bring the Starliner back empty than to put the 2 astronauts in it and have a deadly accident.

    I still remember Challenger blowing up on my television screen in 1986. It is better for Boeing and NASA to lose certification than to lose 2 astronauts.
    Absolutely.
    Both the Challenger and Columbia disaster were due to poltical considerations overriding the technical concerns. Challenger because Reagan was griping about delays and he wanted the teacher astronaut PR photoshoot before the mid-terms and Columbia because they switched the known good insulation that didn't fall off for the "eco-friendly" foam that did to give Gore eco-warrior brownie points. As early as '97 they had engineering reports that the new foam peeled off and impacted the heat shield tiles. And having ignored that, they didn't dare go back to the better insulation without admitting submitting to the political pressure.

    And right now they face a similar problem: Boeing is in deep doo-doo for bad quality control and shoddy (cheap, likely China sourced) components in their supply chain. If NASA does the safest thing and gives up on Starliner, Boeing stock will tumble even more and heads will roll, taking along a horde of friends of the party. Nelson can't allow that, being a party apparatchik himself.

    We may yet lose two more astronauts because of political pandering.
    Reply
  • billslugg
    "Challenger because Reagan was griping about delays and he wanted the teacher astronaut PR photoshoot before the mid-terms " - fj.torres

    There were many reasons to want to fly on that Tuesday. The flight was long delayed and up against scheduling considerations, they wanted a mention in the State of the Union address, they wanted a Friday telecast to students, they wanted to assure the CIA they could launch on a two week schedule.
    The Rogers report concluded that the decision makers did not have the information they needed about the o-rings to cancel the flight.
    Reply
  • fj.torres
    billslugg said:
    "Challenger because Reagan was griping about delays and he wanted the teacher astronaut PR photoshoot before the mid-terms " - fj.torres

    There were many reasons to want to fly on that Tuesday. The flight was long delayed and up against scheduling considerations, they wanted a mention in the State of the Union address, they wanted a Friday telecast to students, they wanted to assure the CIA they could launch on a two week schedule.
    The Rogers report concluded that the decision makers did not have the information they needed about the o-rings to cancel the flight.
    The temperature alone was excuse to cancel.
    They never before launched in that chill.
    Reply
  • Butch_M
    You know, I'd feel a whole lot more sympathy for Boeing if we, the taxpayers, had not paid nearly twice as much for the Starliner as for the Dragon, and then waited nearly seven years longer than was expected, and can't even expect one clean launch at this late date.

    There is no reason to risk the astronaut's lives for what is a small upside P.R. return trip to Earth. Contrast that to something else going wrong on the way home and these astronauts perish. There will be knives out for Boeing and the NASA admin types that made the poor choice to send them home on that helium-leaking, valve-sticking jalopy when there is a perfectly functional Dragon parked in the next bay over, on the ISS.

    Between hidden crap software that caused two 737 crashes, the blown out 737 window, the better part of a decade's delay on Starliner, only to discover flammable tape on the wiring and parachute shredding, bad valves, etc. etc., it really might well be time to thank Boeing for their accountant-approved, Wall-Street-grade spacecraft.

    NASA: Staunch the bleeding. Replace Starliner.

    Now if only there were an alternative waiting in the wings... oh wait! There's Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser.

    Is it not ironic that at the time the contract was awarded, it was considered a bold and risky move to select SpaceX for building the Dragon capsule. And yet today, for far less money, they have successfully launched Dragon so many more times.

    I'd be perfectly happy with cancelling the Starliner and not spend another cent on it. Instead call up Sierra Nevada and see how long and for how much it would take to get the Dream Chaser ready for confirmation testing and a launch on a Falcon 9 and/or ULA rockets.

    If NASA wants a Plan B, it's time to thank Boeing for their best effort, but kick them to the curb and bring in Sierra Nevada.
    Reply
  • gsteele531
    If the reason for persisting in having a manned return is to achieve certification of the vehicle, given the vehicle's manifold problems, and to eschew returning the crew on another vehicle, which appears at this point to be by far the safest route given both the problems with the thrusters and the management decision to move forward with a known bad thruster, then it's a false certification. It would as much be based in luck as in technical capability.

    Any thinking person who is aware that absolute thruster integrity will be mandatory for a safe return, yet knowing that the thrusters have spontaneously failed multiple times on this flight, who agrees - without being bound and gagged - to take that ill-fated capsule back should realize that certification would be shallow indeed if successful, and a catastrophe if not, at the possible loss of their life, and resulting in a black eye from which Boeing's space program might never recover.

    Far better it would be to return the capsule unmanned, work out the problems that caused the failures, return the crew on a known good vehicle, and try again once the lessons have been learned. That is particularly a best course if the capsule fails on re-entry, but at least it won't kill anyone, and it would be a plus for Boeing. Boeing has been so plagued with quality control flaws recently that it is not unreasonable to strongly suspect sabotage - which needs to be definitively ruled out.
    Reply