NASA Astronauts Stuck in Space or Safe? Understanding the Starliner Delay

NASA and Boeing’s Original Plan:

The news of astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams being stuck in space and moved to the international space station ISS is spreading all over the world. The team went to space as per the Commercial Crew programme of NASA, the joint operation of NASA and Boeing, on Boeing Starliner. The first part of the mission was successful, with it reaching the astronauts to the international space station. The initial plan was to spend one week at the space station and return by  15 June, but it is indefinitely delayed.  

                                                                               Image Source:  https://shorturl.at/5prGR 

NASA stopped its self-funded space mission to reduce the public expenditure of billions of dollars. Since then, they have relied on Russian spacecraft. However, with the unreasonable dependency on a foreign nation like Russia for cargo and manned missions to the International Space Station and cost escalation for the joint venture, the country decided to proceed with the private partnership within the country. 

SpaceX and Boeing

Contracts to fly astronauts were sanctioned in 2014 to SpaceX and Boeing, and NASA expected each company to complete the mission by  2017. Both SpaceX and Boeing have received mission assistance of 2.6 and 4.2 Billion dollars, respectively. As per the initiatives, SpaceX developed the Dragon Crew Capsule, tested their unmanned mission and successfully connected the ISS and to date, they have successfully completed 8 manned missions. Thus SpaceX has already shown its capability in the space battle. Boeing developed their partially reusable Starliner CST 100. The first Orbital flight test was a partial failure, failing to reach the ISS. In 2022, they successfully completed their unmanned mission.

Starliner:

Amidst the crisis and further delay due to the oxygen valve issue, the crew flight carrying the astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched on June 5, and helium tank leakages were also discovered. This is the reported issue regarding the delay.

The proper functioning of the thruster may be affected by the helium tank issue, consequently potentially delaying the return journey. As per NASA, Starliner can dock at the space station without any life issues for 45-72 days, and the present delay is only to study the Service Module, which will not return to Earth, and this is the sole opportunity to study and to avoid a repeat of the problems.

SpaceX: A Life Saver?

If the issue runs deeper than reported, then the team has to depend on another spacecraft for the return journey. Elon Musk’s SpaceX will be the game changer in the scenario, but it will be the severely affected Boeing which is already in crisis after the COVID-19-induced financial issue and safety alert of the Boeing 737 - 900.