Two NASA astronauts who rode to orbit on Boeing's Starliner are currently stranded in space aboard the International Space Station after engineers discovered numerous issues with the Boeing spacecraft. Teams on the ground are now racing to assess Starliner's status.
After years of delays, Boeing's Starliner capsule successfully blasted off on its inaugural crewed flight from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:52 a.m. EDT on June 5. But during the 25-hour flight, engineers discovered five separate helium leaks to the spacecraft's thruster system. "We've learned that our helium system is not performing as designed," Mark Nappi, Boeing's Starliner program manager, said at a news conference on June 18."Albeit manageable, it's still not working like we designed it. So we've got to go figure that out."
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.After powering the thrusters up on June 15, engineers found that most of these issues appeared to be at least partially resolved, but their exact causes remain unknown.