Why two astronauts are stuck in space

Nearly two months after launch and almost 50 days after they were initially supposed to return to Earth, two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station finally appear to be closer to their homeward voyage. That they were trapped by troubles with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft has only raised fresh doubts about the company’s technological and engineering […]

Nearly two months after launch and almost 50 days after they were initially supposed to return to Earth, two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station finally appear to be closer to their homeward voyage. That they were trapped by troubles with their Boeing Starliner spacecraft has only raised fresh doubts about the company’s technological and engineering capabilities as it weathers several major scandals.

The two astronauts who made the journey on the Starliner, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, have been at the ISS longer than initially intended, though NASA and Boeing both insist the astronauts are not “stranded,” as some headlines have indicated. They have reserves of oxygen and supplies and could use other spacecraft docked at the station if they needed to make a quick exit back to Earth.

The trip was always intended as a test voyage for the spacecraft, and Boeing and NASA have said that the time spent understanding and fixing the spacecraft’s issues — multiple helium leaks and thrusters that shut off unexpectedly — while it was in space was valuable. 

“We don’t understand the issues enough to fix them permanently, and the only way that we can do that is take the time in this unique environment and get more data, run more tests,” Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s commercial crew program, said in a June press conference.

On Saturday, NASA and Boeing engineers performed tests on 27 of the spacecraft’s 28 thrusters, the system that propels the Starliner into space. On Tuesday, the space agency announced that the tested thrusters were performing well enough to bring the spacecraft back to Earth, and that after looking at the testing data, Boeing and NASA would determine a date for the vessel and its crew to leave the station.

None of this means Boeing’s space program is on track; it has struggled ever since its initial contract with the US government was signed, and it’s not clear whether the company will be able to change course in time for the Starliner to be ready for the missions it was designed for.

How the Boeing Starliner’s test mission expanded from 10 days to 55 and counting

NASA and Boeing’s initial plan was to have the Starliner bring astronauts to and from the ISS on a regular basis by this year. To do that safely meant test flights like this one, as problems — even deadly ones — are not unheard of when it comes to space travel. 

The Starliner, though, faced problems before even getting off the ground. The initial launch date, May 6, was delayed because of a faulty pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank that, along with a source of liquid hydrogen, enables rocket propulsion. Then, a helium leak in the service module — where the propulsion system is located, many of the craft’s instruments are held, and which disconnects from the spacecraft during the return to Earth — pushed back the new scheduled May 25 launch date. 

Though engineers understood that leak to be manageable, three other helium leaks emerged when the spacecraft docked on June 6 at the ISS. Another problem, this time with five of the Starliner’s 28 reaction control systems thrusters, which help the spacecraft navigate, emerged then, too. That meant the spacecraft was unable to dock at the ISS until engineers on the ground could figure out how to position the spacecraft to dock safely.

After testing both on the ground at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico and in space, the thrusters seem to be working appropriately, which will be critical for getting the astronauts back down to Earth. Essentially, the crew will now be able to point the Starliner in the right direction before different engines propel it on the return journey. The helium leaks, too, seem to have stabilized. However, there is still no date set for a return mission.

“I don’t see this as being anything critical, or life-threatening,” Laura Forczyk, the executive director of the space consulting group Astralytical told NPR. “I just think they’re being extra cautious as they should be, because this vehicle is not operating as intended.”

The Boeing commercial space project has been a fraught one, and it’s not just this Starliner test mission. 

Since the joint venture between Boeing and NASA was started in 2014, there have been three problematic launches. The spacecraft’s 2019 test flight had to be cut short due to a software issue that prevented docking at the ISS. (There was no crew aboard this flight.) The Starliner, still uncrewed, successfully docked at the ISS in 2022, although there were several other technical problems in the intervening years. 

In the meantime, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has made several successful trips into space since 2020 — and one of the vehicles that Williams and Wilmore could use to come back to Earth should some other issues arise with the Starliner is SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.

Boeing’s been in big trouble lately

The Starliner’s first mission, carrying at least three astronauts, is tentatively scheduled for no earlier than August 2025, in order to give the NASA and Boeing teams time to fix the issues that have emerged in this test flight. By that time, the entire purpose of the project will be nearly moot; the ISS is scheduled to shut down in 2030.

Boeing’s space troubles are just part of the problems plaguing the company, which is primarily known as a commercial aircraft and defense industry manufacturer. It has been under significant scrutiny because of the multiple dangerous failures of its 737 Max commercial plane.

There was a terrifying incident in January, in which a door plug flew open on an Alaska Airlines flight, and two deadly plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. As Vox’s Whizy Kim wrote in January:

Other problems keep cropping up, with Boeing planes a common denominator: The failure of a Boeing 737 plane that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had intended to fly on. The wheel on the nose of a Boeing-made Delta plane falling off right before takeoff. A faulty anti-icing system that could cause the engine to break apart if pilots don’t remember to turn it off after five minutes. Misdrilled holes. “Loose bolts” — a pair of words one never wants to hear in relation to their plane — that are peeling back the curtain on decades of safety lapses and costly legal violations at Boeing.

Boeing and Alaska Airlines are also embroiled in a lawsuit over the January incident. Boeing and the Justice Department have entered into a plea agreement relating to the 2018 Lion Air and 2019 Ethiopian Airlines flights that killed 189 and 157 people, respectively. Boeing will plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the FAA in evaluating the 737 Max, likely avoiding a criminal trial that could expose further wrongdoing. 

Under the agreement, the company will be fined $487.2 million and will owe restitution to the victims’ families, who are already opposing the deal.

Boeing’s many serious missteps are, as Vox’s Marin Cogan wrote in March, due at least in part to a highly corporatized structure at the company that in recent decades has focused less on solid engineering than on shareholder returns.

All of the issues — the backed-up space program, the serious incidents involving the 737 Max — are part of the same problematic system at Boeing. Whether the company will face its problems and change its operations remains to be seen.