Despite the development delays and a drastically extended mission, NASA said Wednesday it plans to bring the Boeing Starliner back from the International Space Station by the end of July. The space agency also stated that the spacecraft would be able to evacuate to Earth immediately if an emergency were to occur. Like the premise of “Gilligan’s Island,” NASA’s first manned test mission of the Starliner was supposed to last only eight days, but was a seemingly indefinite stay in space.
Helium leaks are at the center of the mission’s most prominent problems. The Boeing Crew Flight Test was scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on June 5, but was postponed from a scrapped version launched in early May. Helium leaks were first noticed during the delay. The leaks resurfaced during Starliner’s ascent to the ISS, disabling six of the craft’s 26 reaction control thrusters.
The mission duration has been extended primarily to give engineers on the ground more time to analyze data and develop and test solutions for the boosters. NASA is confident that the Starliner is safe. However, the agency is considering replacing the Boeing Starliner with a SpaceX Crew Dragon for an upcoming launch in February. NASA has also discouraged speculation that another Crew Dragon could be sent to help the missions bring two astronauts home from the ISS, the New York Times defeated.
NASA anticipated potential problems with its manned spacecraft, so they awarded contracts both Boeing and SpaceX. It is understandable that the space agency is not publicly criticizing the Starliner during the test flight, but the problems are clear. To be fair to the agency, the situation appears to be under control, despite the Starliner’s shortcomings. It is a level of operational confidence that is needed to sending people into space.