Stranded NASA Astronaut Reports Mysterious Noise from Boeing’s Starliner

NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” E. Wilmore has recently reported hearing a “strange noise” coming from a speaker inside the Boeing Starliner spacecraft currently docked inside the International Space Station .

Knewz.com has learned that the audio clip of the conversation between Wilmore and Mission Control as well as the noise reported by the astronaut were shared by Michigan-based meteorologist Rob Dale.

The astronaut contacted NASA Mission Control in Houston on Saturday, August 31, reporting that one of the speakers on board Boeing’s spacecraft had been emanating an unidentified pulsating noise.

“I’ve got a question about Starliner,” Wilmore told the Johnson Space Center over the call. “[There is] a strange noise coming through the speaker… I don’t know what’s making it.”

Wilmore further asked mission control if they could arrange a method using which they could listen to the audio inside Starliner.

“We can configure that, Butch. Give us a minute and I’ll call you back when it’s ready,” came Mission Control’s reply.

Moments later, Wilmore was informed that Houston was connected to the Starliner spacecraft via “hardliner,” following which the astronaut held up his microphone to the speaker in an attempt to capture the “strange noise.”

While Mission Control could not catch the noise initially, the noise reported by the astronaut was soon heard clearly on the call.

“Alright Butch, that one came through,” Houston informed Wilmore, and added, “It was kind of like a pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping.”

“I’ll do it one more time, and I’ll let y’all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on,” the NASA astronaut replied.

“Call us if you figure it out,” Wilmore added.

The “strange noise” incident is the latest issue plaguing the faulty spacecraft, although the severity of the implications of the pulsating sound reported by Wilmore is unknown as of now.

Boeing’s spacecraft has suffered in-flight helium leaks, propulsion issues, and failing thrusters, raising an alarm that has prompted NASA to announce that the Starliner would be returned to Earth without its original crew of Wilmore and astronaut Sunita Williams.

While the spacecraft managed to safely transport Wilmore and Williams to the International Space Station, it was reported that five of its 28 thrusters had failed by the time it reached its destination, according to reports.

Expressing doubts about the safety of the spacecraft, NASA has decided to make the Starliner return to a landing point in New Mexico on autopilot on September 6—around a week after the pulsing noise was recorded by Wilmore.

It has been reported that the two astronauts currently stranded on the International Space Station will be brought back home onboard a SpaceX capsule in February 2025.

Notably, “strange noises” were also reported by Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei during the nation’s first human spaceflight back in 2003. Liwei reported at the time that he heard what sounded like “an iron bucket being knocked by a wooden hammer” while his spacecraft was in orbit.

However, scientists later realized that the noise was made by “small deformations in the spacecraft due to a difference in pressure between its inner and outer walls,” according to reports.

The recent incident onboard the Starliner was first reported by the outlet Ars Technica .