NASA Astronauts Again Postpone Return To Earth After Boeing Spacecraft Issues

A roughly one-week trip to space to test out a private Boeing spacecraft has turned into a three-week excursion with no definite return date for two NASA astronauts, after their spacecraft experienced multiple technical issues.

Boeing’s Starliner transportation vessel, which docked at the International Space Station on June 6, has repeatedly postponed its return to Earth, in order to allow technicians to fix and analyze thrusters and helium systems that have unexpectedly shut down or leaked during use, a spokesperson for Boeing confirmed to HuffPost Wednesday.

The spacecraft, whichlast planned to return on Wednesday, remains cleared for return to Earth in case of an emergency and has “never been ‘stuck’ or ‘stranded’ on the ISS,” as some news outlets have reported, the spokesperson added.

The affected parts of the spacecraft’s propulsions system are all within the “service module,” the spokesperson explained. When the spacecraft leaves the ISS, those parts will be “discarded and bur[n] up in the atmosphere on reentry,” so all analysis on them has to be conducted in space.

Flight commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and flight pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams are now looking at a return sometime after two planned spacewalks that are scheduled on June 24 and July 2, Boeing andNASA have said. They were originally scheduled to return on June 14.

There is no rush to return the pair, however, as there are plenty of supplies and the ISS’ schedule is relatively open through mid-August, according to Boeing. The helium leaks are also reported to be stable and not a concern for a return mission, and four of the five troubled thrusters are now operating normally, the company has said.

“This means only one thruster out of 27 is currently