Onboard Boeing’s Stranded Spacecraft as NASA Launches Urgent Rescue Mission

NASA has broken from behind the cover of its denials about the Boeing Starliner spacecraft being stranded in space , admitting to ongoing clashes with the aerospace company.

Knewz.com has learned that the government space agency has even turned to Elon Musk ’s SpaceX, clandestinely exploring a rescue mission for the two marooned astronauts , Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.

The space agency has since indicated that one of the options was to use the ailing Starliner docked at the International Space Station (ISS) for the return trip, but for this to happen, NASA technicians would have to be “more comfortable” with the idea.

If the prevailing bone of contention (the shuttle’s thrusters) is resolved, Wilmore and Williams could return to Earth by late August or early September after software permitting the shuttle to auto-detach from the ISS is reconfigured. This process – which takes two weeks – is fraught with challenges.

“Essentially, what we’re asking the team is to go back two years in time and resurrect the software parameters that are required to give automatic responses to breakouts near the ISS should we have a problem in close to ISS, which the software now allows them to do manually,”  Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew program manager explained.

NASA’s other option is to wait for its next Crew-9 mission. This journey normally comprises four crew members but for the sake of Wilmore and Williams, will only carry two. Said mission has already been pushed back to September 24, to accommodate an eventuality where the Starliner autonomous undocking system fails.

If NASA decides in favor of the latter, Wilmore and Wiliams will be stuck in space until February 25, 2025.

Ken Bowers, chief of NASA’s space human spaceflight operations spoke out on the matter, saying that decisions were yet to be made.

He indicated that there have been strained discussions between the technicians working for Boeing (the service provider) and NASA (its customer).

“I think it’s been very healthy,” Bowers said. “I have to admit that sometimes when we get disagreement, it’s not fun. It can be painful having those discussions, but it’s what makes us a good organization.”

Boeing – despite the simulated ground tests showing mysterious bulging teflon seals, capable of slowing the flow of the much-needed nitrogen tetroxide propellant needed to power the Starliner back to earth – believes that the craft is ready for the journey.

“People really want to understand the physics of what’s going on relative to the physics of the Teflon, what’s causing it to heat up and what’s causing it to contract,” Stich elaborated.

“That’s really what the team is off trying to understand. I think the NASA community in general would like to understand a little bit more of the root cause,” Stich said, via ARS .

As a nod to the latter, NASA refuses to risk the journey back to Earth for fear of the problem occurring on the Starliner while in transit through space.