Two American astronauts have been delayed at the International Space Station (ISS) while engineers try to fix problems with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
Starliner is a joint project between Boeing and the American space agency NASA. The capsule arrived at the ISS on June 6. It had launched a day earlier from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The trip was a test flight that marked the first time the Starliner spacecraft successfully carried astronauts to space. It transported NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the ISS. The two were expected to remain in space for about one week.
But problems affecting Starliner have already led Boeing and NASA officials to postpone the trip back to Earth several times. Reuters news agency reported one of its sources with knowledge of flight planning said NASA was targeting a return date of July 6.
Since its June 5 liftoff, Starliner has experienced at least five helium leaks. In addition, some of the capsule’s thrusters have failed.
NASA would like to use Starliner to support its future exploration activities on the moon as part of its Artemis program. But Boeing has struggled to complete the testing process before it gets approval for repeated trips to the ISS.
