Stuck in space, will Sunita Williams be back home anytime soon? NASA to make important announcement

Officials of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Boeing will hold a media teleconference at 9 PM on Thursday, July 25, “to provide the latest status of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission aboard the International Space Station,” an update by the US space agency informed.

The interaction during the press conference may provide an update on the return of two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Indian-Origin Sunita Williams, who have been spending extra times in space compared to previously scheduled. There will also be some insights on the “ground hot fire testing” being conducted to ensure Starliner’s safe comeback to Earth.

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What is ground testing?

Recently, engineering teams with NASA and Boeing completed ground hot fire testing of a Starliner reaction control system thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.

These tests simulated various flight conditions, including the spacecraft’s approach to the space station and potential stress scenarios during undocking and deorbit burn.

“The test series involved firing the engine through similar in-flight conditions the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station,” NASA said.

The testing also involved various stress-case firings for “what is expected during Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that will position the spacecraft for a landing in the southwestern United States”.

“Teams are analyzing the data from these tests, and leadership plans to discuss initial findings during the call,” NASA added.

What happened to Sunita Williams’s spacecraft?

Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore had launched aboard Boeing’s new Starliner capsule on June 5. They would have been back weeks ago, most probably by June 14. However, they are still in hovering space after their Starliner spacecraft experienced trouble in the propulsion system – which is used to manoeuvre the spacecraft.

“Helium leaks and thruster failures almost derailed their arrival at the International Space Station, and has kept them there much longer than planned,” officials said.

When will NASA astronauts return to Earth?

Now, all eyes are on the return of Starliner crew members – Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore – back to Earth. In an update on July 10, NASA’s commercial crew program director Steve Stich had said the earliest the duo could return to Earth may be by the end of July.

No exact date of return was provided by the NASA officials. Boeing’s Mark Nappi earlier stressed that in an emergency, Starliner and its crew could return right now. While the company does not believe the thrusters are damaged, “we want to fill in the blanks and run this test to assure ourselves of that,” he said.

Since their docking at the International Space Station, the Starliner crew members have been engaged in a series of research and experiments, and understanding exactly what went wrong during their journey on the Starliner capsule.

On July 11, NASA informed that its teams, along with Boeing crew, continued working to increase their understanding of the Starliner spacecraft’s propulsion system prior to the return of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from space station, conducting ground tests on a new thruster.

Later on July 20, the Boeing space informed, “From launch to docked operations, the spacecraft and its crew accomplished all capability checkouts and 77 flight test objectives for certification. The remaining 10 will be accomplished from undocking to landing.”