The ongoing troubles of the BoeingStarlinercapsule are affecting the schedule of launches to the International Space Station ( ISS ) . The starship is on its first crewed escape trial run and it has been a partial success . While it flew to celestial orbit with no issues , itexperienced delaysand once on approach , thrusters malfunctioned . Since then , NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been carry test and found job to perform on the ISS .
The ISS is divided into two section : the Russian Orbital Segment ( ROS ) put together by Roscosmos , and the US Orbital Segment ( USOS ) , build by NASA , JAXA , ESA , and CSA . There are two docks on the US segment : one has Starliner and the other one has Crew-8 ’s Crew Dragon capsule . So one has to vacate before the next Crew Dragon gets there .
ordinarily , there are several days of overlap between the two crewed missions , reach over responsibility , passing on advice , workings plan , etc . Crew-9 was suppose to found on August 18 and Crew-8 was supposed to land on August 27 . Now , Crew-9 wo n’t plunge earlier than September 24 .
“ This registration allows more clip for mission managers to finalize issue planning for the agency ’s Boeing Crew Flight Test presently docked to the orbiting laboratory , ” NASA write in astatement . “ NASA and Boeing carry on to evaluate the spacecraft ’s readiness , and no decision have been made regarding Starliner ’s counter . ”
As it fend , the best potential choice is for Wilmore and Williams to stay in orbit . While the missionary work has become much longer than the original one hebdomad , the quad station has plenty of proviso to accommodate two extra spaceman for as long as they involve – and it is immensely cheaper than mount a rescue deputation with an empty abridgment .
That approach shot is not unheard of . That ’s how cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin , together with astronautFrank Rubio , get back to Earth when their Soyuz ejector seat was damage by a micrometeorite in orbital cavity . It is unclear at this metre if NASA will do that .
Starliner has been marred by delays . The initial plan anticipated the first crewed test in 2017 but it was postponed multiple times until it got to August 2023 , and then to May 2024 . The hold this year was to fix a trouble with the chute organisation and wiring harnesses . On May 6 , the launching was scrub two hours before liftoff . More delays were amass and another launch was scrubbed on June 1 , due to a faulty mightiness supply .
