NASA explains ‘strange noise’ astronaut stuck in space heard coming from Boeing Starliner

Astronauts stuck in space on the International Space Station reported hearing a strange pulsing noise coming from Boeing ’s Starliner spacecraft.

The Starliner launched in June for its first-ever mission with crew members, bringing with it NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station. On Saturday, Wilmore called into mission control to report a “strange noise” on board.

"There's a strange noise coming through the speaker," Wilmore told mission control, according to Space.com. "I don't know what's making it."

He then held his device to the speakers, and those at mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston said the sound was a "pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping."

"All right, over to you. Call us if you figure it out," Wilmore replied, reportedly sounding calm.

NASA later provided an explanation, saying the “feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner,” noting the audio at the space station is “complex.”

“A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner,” a statement from NASA posted on X read.

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“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback,” the statement continued.

The astronauts' mission was originally supposed to last 10 days, but NASA determined that returning Williams and Wilmore to Earth on the Starliner was too risky. Williams and Wilmore are expected to remain in space until February 2025, when they will return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon capsule.