Boeing's Starliner has sprung two additional leaks en route to the International Space Station , forcing the two astronauts on board to close them manually, according to NASA.
But a handful of hours into the journey, just as NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams were preparing to go to sleep for the night, two helium leaks appeared on the spacecraft. This is in addition to a third leak that engineers discovered prior to launch. "Teams have identified three helium leaks on the spacecraft. One of these was previously discussed before flight along with a management plan," NASA wrote on X late on Wednesday ."The other two are new since the spacecraft arrived on orbit. Two of the affected helium valves have been closed and the spacecraft remains stable."Fixing the faults cut into an hour of the crew's nine-hour bedtime.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over."Helium is used in spacecraft thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire and is not combustible or toxic," Boeing noted during a previous helium leak.