After returning to Earth, the astronauts of the mission Boeing Starliner Butch Wilmore and Sweeney Williams first spoke about the real danger during the mission, which was hidden by NASA.
Wilmore and Williams were forced to spend almost 9 months on the International Space Station due to problems with the spacecraft Boeing Starliner and the impossibility of returning to Earth. However, in reality, things could have ended even worse.
After numerous delays, on June 5, 2024 Starliner has finally launched from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. Before that, the mission was postponed 3 times due to several helium leaks. The delay due to a faulty valve on the Atlas V rocket also forced Butch Wilmore to ask for extra time on the simulator, as he was afraid of losing his skills while waiting. After the launch, the temperature in the cabin suddenly dropped to 10 C°. The astronauts had to put on all the clothes they had, and then their spacesuits. The reason for this remains unclear.
However real problems for the astronauts began during the approach to the International Space Station. At 260 meters from the ISS, the maneuvering engines began to fail sequentially. In just a few minutes, 4 out of 28 engines of the Boeing Starliner navigation system failed. At the same time, the protocol requires the docking to be terminated in the event of a three-engine failure.
Butch Wilmore was forced to take control of the ship. He discovered that the system was reacting with a dangerous delay. The situation was extremely dangerous, as under such circumstances it was also impossible to return to EarthDuring the pre-launch briefing, Wilmore had already been informed that engine problems could lead to a situation where, once in space, the astronauts would lose control of the ship.
«Hey, we are in a very dangerous situation I think we both basically felt that it would be really cool to dock with that space station that’s right in front of us», — Wilmore says.
Meanwhile, NASA’s Mission Control Center proposed a risky option to remotely restart the engine control system. This meant that the astronauts would temporarily lose control of the Starliner. The restart returned control to two engines, but the fifth engine immediately failed. The restart brought back 2 more engines. At the same time, NASA demanded that the astronauts perform an automatic docking with the ISS. Fortunately, the docking was successful.
Further investigation revealed that similar engine problems had occurred during the Starliner tests in 2022, which casts doubt on Boeing’s claims that the Starliner is fully ready for manned flights. Experts note that in the worst-case scenario, the crew could have needed an emergency evacuation on the SpaceX Crew Dragon. However, even such a scenario did not guarantee complete safety, as a long stay in a leaky Starliner at low temperatures created additional risks.
NASA is still working to get the Starliner, which returned without astronauts on board last September, back in the air. In an update last week, the agency said that NASA and Boeing «are making progress on crew certification of the company’s CST-100 Starliner» and «teams are working to resolve anomalies in the Starliner’s flight and prepare for engine control system tests in the coming months».
How much did the Boeing Starliner crew earn for 9 unplanned months in orbit
Source: Ars Technica; Futurism
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