The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea. Photo credit: NASA
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. 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 crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system. The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
Engineering and spaceflight specialists from NASA and Boeing continue data analysis ahead of a decision this week on the path forward for the Starliner spacecraft’s return from the International Space Station.
NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts aboard is expected no earlier than Saturday, Aug. 24 at the conclusion of an agency-level review chaired by Ken Bowersox, the associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. The agency flight readiness review is where any formal dissents are presented and reconciled. Other agency leaders who routinely participate in launch and return readiness reviews for crewed missions include NASA’s administrator, deputy administrator, associate administrator, various agency center directors, the Flight Operations Directorate, and agency technical authorities.
NASA will host a televised news conference following the review’s conclusion to discuss the agency’s decision and next steps. More information on the news conference will be shared once confirmed. After the agency-level decision, program and flight control teams will continue preparing for Starliner’s return, including training sessions and other actions as appropriate.
Ahead of the agency-level review, NASA and Boeing are working to finalize and present flight rationale to various teams across the community and to the program control board. Engineering teams have been working to evaluate a new model that represents the thruster mechanics and is designed to more accurately predict performance during the return phase of flight. This data could help teams better understand system redundancy from undock to service module separation. Ongoing efforts to complete the new modelling, characterize spacecraft performance data, refine integrated risk assessments, and determine community recommendations will fold into the agency-level review.
Alongside the crew members of Expedition 71, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, continue supporting a host of research, maintenance, and other activities aboard the microgravity laboratory since arriving on Starliner on June 6.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, for the launch of the agency’s Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station.
This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory. Starliner ground teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return.
The Crew-9 launch adjustment also deconflicts the next SpaceX rotation with the upcoming Soyuz handover targeted for no earlier than mid-September. Teams are working to prepare the Crew-9 mission to be ready to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to deconflict with pad preparations for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission beginning this September at nearby Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA also will adjust the launch of SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission to no earlier than mid-October.
The agency will host a media teleconference at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 7, with agency leadership to discuss ongoing operations, including NASA’s Crew-9, Crew-8, and Crew Flight Test missions.
Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule docked to the Harmony module’s forward port at the International Space Station on July 3, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
Engineering teams with NASA and Boeing completed a hot fire test of the Starliner spacecraft’s reaction control system jets on July 27 to evaluate the spacecraft’s propulsion system. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, assigned to the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, were seated inside the docked spacecraft during the test as part of preparations before their return aboard Starliner from the International Space Station.
The test involved firing 27 of the spacecraft’s 28 jets for short bursts, moving through them one at a time to check thruster performance and helium leak rates. Preliminary results show all the tested thrusters are back to preflight levels based on thrust and chamber pressure.
As part of the test configuration, all helium manifolds, which control and direct the flow of helium, were opened allowing engineers to continue evaluation of Starliner’s helium supply and leak rates. The teams verified Starliner continues to show the margin needed to support a return trip from the station. Following the test, the helium manifolds were closed and will remain closed until Starliner activates its propulsion system ahead of undocking. Teams also will verify the helium leak rate before Starliner undocks.
Teams are reviewing data from the docked hot fire test and the recent ground testing of a Starliner thruster at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico before holding an agency return readiness review. Following this agency-level review, NASA and Boeing will select a target return date.
While ground teams work to finalize Starliner’s return to Earth, Wilmore and Williams continue to work alongside the Expedition 71 crew, assisting with science investigations and maintenance activities. On July 29, Wilmore and Williams entered their spacecraft and checked its water systems, called down to Boeing mission personnel for a conference, and put on their space suits long enough to perform a pressure test. Wilmore started his morning in the Harmony module, assembling the BioServe centrifuge as Williams reviewed procedures for operating the Astrobee free-flying robotic assistants.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. This long-duration photograph was taken at night from the orbital complex as it soared 258 miles above western China. Photo credit: NASA
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, crewmembers of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission, performed a host of research activities and other roles aboard the International Space Station. Wilmore and Williams give the microgravity laboratory a complement of nine people working through daily tasks.
On Monday, Wilmore and Williams reviewed the procedures for using the Fluid Systems Servicer, which drains, purges, and circulates fluids on systems aboard the space station. Wilmore then refilled coolant loops in the water pump assembly located in the Columbus module. Tuesday saw the pair take turns during the morning pedaling on an exercise cycle while attached to heart and breathing sensors that measured their aerobic capacity. The duo then split up as Wilmore serviced a pair of research freezers that preserve scientific samples and Williams installed hardware on an experiment that explores atmospheric reentry and thermal protection systems.
The seven-member Expedition 71 crew joined the two Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts to practice an emergency drill in collaboration with mission controllers. The teams aboard the orbital outpost and on the ground coordinated communications and reviewed procedures in the unlikely event of a pressure leak, chemical leak, or fire aboard the space station. Following that, Wilmore and Williams spoke to reporters from the space station, answering questions about their mission and the Starliner vehicle. NASA and Boeing managers also discussed the Crew Flight Test mission with the media in an audio teleconference afterward. Watch the crew news conference here and listen to the media briefing here. The duo also completed life support work refilling temperature loops with water in the Tranquility module’s internal thermal control system.
Advanced biology research also was underway aboard the orbiting lab on Thursday with astronauts exploring how living in space affects the human body and mind. Williams extracted DNA to identify microbe samples collected from station water systems. Results from the genetic biotechnology experiment may improve ways to keep crews healthy and spacecraft systems clean on future missions.
NASA astronaut Michael Barratt also assisted Wilmore, who spent all day servicing a pair of spacesuits in the Quest airlock. The duo cleaned the suits’ cooling loops and checked the communication systems ahead of a spacewalk planned for July 29.
An aurora streams below Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked to the forward port on the Harmony module as the International Space Station soared 266 miles above the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia. Photo credit: NASA/Matt Dominick
NASA and Boeing leadership are adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft with agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station. The move off Wednesday, June 26, deconflicts Starliner’s undocking and landing from a series of planned International Space Station spacewalks while allowing mission teams time to review propulsion system data. Listen to a full replay of the June 18 media briefing where NASA and Boeing leadership discussed the ongoing efforts.
“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking. Additionally, given the duration of the mission, it is appropriate for us to complete an agency-level review, similar to what was done ahead of the NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 return after two months on orbit, to document the agency’s formal acceptance on proceeding as planned.”
A media telecon with mission leadership will follow the readiness review’s conclusion, and the agency will share those details as they are solidified. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft remains cleared for return in case of an emergency on the space station that required the crew to leave orbit and come back to Earth.
Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on Monday, June 24, and Tuesday, July 2.
“Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station,” said Stich. “We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”
Wilmore and Williams remain integrated with the Expedition 71 crew, assisting with station operations as needed and completing add-on in-flight objectives for NASA certification of Starliner.
“The crew’s feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and they know that every bit of learning we do on the Crew Flight Test will improve and sharpen our experience for future crews,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Boeing’s Starliner Program.
The crew is not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station’s schedule is relatively open through mid-August.
Astronauts Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt assist astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, all three from NASA, during a spacesuit fit check inside the space station’s Quest airlock.
The two crews living and working aboard the International Space Station continued gearing up for next week’s science and maintenance spacewalk. The nine space lab inhabitants also focused on long-running heart research and continuous maintenance on orbital lab systems.
NASA Flight Engineers Tracy C. Dyson and Mike Barratt are getting ready for the first spacewalk of the Expedition 71 mission set to begin at 8 a.m. EDT on Monday, June 24. The suited up duo will exit the depressurized Quest airlock into the vacuum of space for six-and-a-half hours of radio hardware removal tasks and sample collections of microorganisms that may have exited through station vents.
The veteran astronauts joined Matthew Dominick and Jeanette Epps, both first time NASA flight engineers, studying and practicing the Canadarm2 robotic arm maneuvers necessary to support Monday’s spacewalk. Afterward, the astronaut quartet called down to mission controllers and discussed readiness for the communications hardware and research excursion. This will be Dyson’s fourth career spacewalk since 2010 when she was an Expedition 24 Flight Engineer. This will Barratt’s third spacewalk since 2009 when he was an Expedition 20 Flight Engineer.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Commander and Pilot respectively for the Boeing Crew Flight Test, helped tidy up the orbital lab on Thursday and adjusted seats inside the Starliner spacecraft. Wilmore first swapped out thermal gear that protects electronics hardware then refreshed crew provisions inside the orbital outpost. Williams packed trash inside Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter, swapped out plumbing components, then exchanged space physics research hardware. The two experienced crewmates also entered Starliner and configured the seats aboard the spacecraft before its upcoming departure.
Station Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub took turns on Thursday staying still for a period of time while wearing sensors recording their heart activity. The yearslong Roscosmos space cardiac study is helping researchers understand how the human heart adapts to long-term weightlessness. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin assisted the duo with the heart research, then set up a camera for automated photography of the Earth’s surface, and finally focused on life support maintenance.
The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea.
Teams from NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than 10:10 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, for the undocking of the Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station. For the primary undocking opportunity, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the first crew to fly aboard Starliner, would land about 4:51 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
Mission teams supporting NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test continue to review Starliner’s data from the completed test objectives.
During a media teleconference on Tuesday, Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, discussed the flight test and upcoming return plans. Stich was joined by Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program; Mike Lammers, flight director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; and Mark Nappi, vice president and manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. Listen to a full replay of the teleconference.
Following undocking and the deorbit burn, Starliner will descend under parachutes to land in the desert grounds of White Sands. Airbags attached to the bottom of Starliner will soften the spacecraft’s touchdown. The landing will mark the first time an American capsule has touched down on land with astronauts aboard. A team of NASA and Boeing specialists will retrieve the crew soon after landing.
Wilmore and Williams docked the Starliner spacecraft to the space station’s forward port on June 6 and have been testing spacecraft systems and performing tasks aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Get the latest mission updates by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
This view from a window on the cupola overlooks a portion of the International Space and shows the partially obscured Starliner spacecraft from Boeing docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Photo credit: NASA
NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than Saturday, June 22, to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission from the International Space Station. The extra time allows the team to finalize departure planning and operations while the spacecraft remains cleared for crew emergency return scenarios within the flight rules.
NASA and Boeing leadership will discuss the details of the new return target, flight status, and weather considerations for landing during a pre-departure media teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 18. NASA will provide additional media teleconference details soon.
“We are continuing to understand the capabilities of Starliner to prepare for the long-term goal of having it perform a six-month docked mission at the space station,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “The crew will perform additional hatch operations to better understand its handling, repeat some ‘safe haven’ testing and assess piloting using the forward window.”
NASA and Boeing teams also prepared plans for Starliner to fire seven of its eight aft-facing thrusters while docked to the station to evaluate thruster performance for the remainder of the mission. Known as a “hot fire test,” the process will see two bursts of the thrusters, totaling about a second, as part of a pathfinder process to evaluate how the spacecraft will perform during future operational missions after being docked to the space station for six months. The crew also will investigate cabin air temperature readings across the cabin to correlate to the life support system temperature measurements.
“We have an incredible opportunity to spend more time at station and perform more tests which provides invaluable data unique to our position,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing. “As the integrated NASA and Boeing teams have said each step of the way, we have plenty of margin and time on station to maximize the opportunity for all partners to learn – including our crew.”
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are serving as Starliner’s crew for the mission, arrived at the International Space Station on June 6. They’ve completed numerous flight objectives required for NASA certification of Boeing’s transportation system for flights to the orbiting laboratory under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Over the past three days, Wilmore and Williams have performed tasks as part of the space station team, including installing research equipment, maintaining the lab’s hardware, and helping station crewmembers Matt Dominick and Tracy Dyson prepare for a spacewalk. After NASA called off Thursday’s spacewalk, Williams worked to help the crew out of their spacesuits.
Engineering teams continue to increase their understanding of previous observations from Starliner propulsion systems on the spacecraft’s service module.
Pending spacecraft return readiness and acceptable weather conditions, Starliner will undock from the space station for a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States. Get the latest mission updates by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.
The seven Expedition 71 crew members gather with the two Crew Flight Test members for a team portrait aboard the space station. In the front from left are, Suni Williams, Oleg Kononenko, and Butch Wilmore. Second row from left are, Alexander Grebenkin, Tracy C. Dyson, and Mike Barratt. In the back are, Nikolai Chub, Jeanette Epps, and Matthew Dominick.
Spacewalk preparations and genetic research were the prime responsibilities for the orbital residents aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The Expedition 71 crew also worked on futuristic piloting studies and more eye and ear checks.
NASA astronauts Tracy C. Dyson and Matthew Dominick have been given the “go” by mission managers to begin a six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk at 8 a.m. EDT on Thursday. The duo will work outside in the vacuum of space removing communications hardware, known as the radio frequency group, then sampling for microorganisms potentially living on the outside of the orbital outpost. This will be Dyson’s fourth spacewalk and Dominick’s first.
The duo joined each other after lunchtime reviewing spacewalk safety procedures and printing checklists they will wear on their spacesuit cuffs. Toward the end of the day, the spacewalkers gathered with NASA Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Jeanette Epps and called down to mission controllers to discuss readiness for Thursday’s spacewalk.
Mission managers will discuss the upcoming spacewalk details during a news conference at 4 p.m. today. Live coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Barratt earlier scanned Dyson’s eyes with the Ultrasound 2 device imaging her cornea, lens, and optic nerve. Dominick recorded a video greeting for an audience in Colorado as Epps swapped water tanks inside the Tranquility module.
Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams spent their day on biomedical activities and gene sequence training. Wilmore took an inventory of the Human Research Facility checking items such as blood tube kits, saliva sample packs, gloves, and more. Williams studied procedures to collect microbe samples, extract their DNA, and sequence their genes to learn how to identify bacteria and fungi living in station water systems.
Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub took turns on Tuesday jogging on a treadmill while attached to electrodes recording their health data for a physical fitness test. The duo also worked on electronics gear swaps, life support maintenance, and station window inspections. Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin studied experimental spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques that may be used to train crew members on planetary missions. He also conducted a hearing test wearing headphones connected to a computer and responding to a series of tones.
