Astronauts still stuck on Boeing’s Starliner, as engineers scramble to fix issues

Another week, another Boeing Starliner delay.

NASA and Boeing have announced, for the third time, they are again delaying the return of the Starliner from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth. It marks another blow for the vessel, which has been hampered by technical issues.

And, now, veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are facing an uncertain return date. The space agency initially projected their mission would last anywhere from eight to 10 days, but now it’s going to last at least 20.

Teams from <a href=«https://twitter.com/NASA?ref_src=» https:>@NASA

and <a href=«https://twitter.com/BoeingSpace?ref_src=» https:>@BoeingSpace are targeting NET 10:10pm ET June 25 for the undocking of the <a href=«https://twitter.com/hashtag/Starliner?src=hash&ref_src=» https:>#Starliner spacecraft from <a href=«https://twitter.com/Space_Station?ref_src=» https:>@Space_Station, landing early June 26 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

More: https://t.co/QouNVM58Jq pic.twitter.com/HzF2KW7rPc

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) <a href=«https://twitter.com/Commercial_Crew/status/1803150013070991659?ref_src=» https:>June 18, 2024

This week, NASA announced that Williams and Wilmore will return no earlier than June 26, as teams of engineers on Earth scramble to sort out all the issues that have plagued the vessel since launch.

Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, told a news conference Tuesday that his team “really want to work through the remainder of the data,” but sees no reason why the Starliner won’t be able to bring the astronauts back home.

Williams and Wilmore were launched aboard Starliner June 5 and arrived at the ISS following a 24-hour flight in which the spacecraft encountered four