How the two Starliner astronauts, waiting for their return flight to Earth, are keeping busy on board the ISS

Analysis is still underway to understand the various problems affecting Boeing’s spacecraft, nearly two months after its first manned flight. The capsule is now waiting for the green light from NASA to bring Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore back to earth.

The date of their return remains unknown. American astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are taking part in the first manned voyage of the Starliner capsule from the American manufacturer Boeing, a vehicle that is to act as taxis between Earth and the International Space Station (ISS). Arriving on board on June 6, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were only supposed to stay there for eight days before returning to the ground, according to the initial itinerary. Except that their return trip has been postponed several times due to problems affecting the Starliner. The cause: the thrusters and helium leaks.

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will return to Earth “in the coming weeks”Boeing simply wrote in a press release on July 18. A vagueness maintained during a joint press conference between NASA and Boeing on Thursday, July 25. “We don’t have any major announcements regarding a return date. We’re making great progress but we’re not quite ready to do that yet.”said NASA official Steve Stich (around 2’20” in this video).

Despite these setbacks, the two astronauts remain optimistic. “I have a very good feeling that the spaceship will bring us home, no problem.”Suni Williams said during a press conference from the ISS on July 10 (around 13:30 in the video below).

According to NASA and Boeing, Starliner is operating normally while connected to the ISS. Above all, the two organizations insist that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are not “blocked” aboard the station and that the Boeing capsule is able to bring astronauts back to Earth in the event of an emergency. But for now, the teams prefer to keep it with the ISS in order to conduct in-depth data analyses.

“That mantra you’ve heard – ‘failure is not an option’ – that’s why we’re here now.insisted Commander Butch Wilmore. This is the world of testing. It’s a tough industry.. All spacecraft have had multiple problems. It’s the nature of our work.” “This is a test flight: we expected to find certain thingsadded Suni Williams. We find things, we fix them and make changes, do updates with our control team.”

Starliner is securely attached to the ISS. And when the duo is aboard the capsule working with their ground colleagues, the lights from their flashlights are visible through the porthole, as captured by astronaut Matthew Dominick from the ISS (the green glows visible below are the northern lights).

The astronauts are optimistic and say: “delighted” to spend more time than expected on board the ISS. Suni Williams has already spent two days on the station, in 2007 and 2012. Before going there with Starliner, she had already logged 322 days in space and just over 50 hours of spacewalks, according to NASA’s count. Butch Wilmore, for his part, stayed on the station in 2009 and 2014. Before this extended stay, he had logged 178 days in space and just over 25 hours of spacewalks, again according to the American space agency.

“Butch and I have been here before, and it feels like home again. It feels good to be floating, to be in space, and to work with the ISS team. It’s great to be here.”

Sunita Williams, American astronaut participating in the Starliner test flight

at a press conference from the ISS

Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore join the team on site and, like all members aboard the ISS, participate in different tasks. They have stowed away a module used to store supplies, spare parts and even waste, NASA details.

They also helped load the Cygnus cargo ship, which left the station in mid-July before disintegrating upon re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, full of debris and items that no longer belonged on board the ISS.

They also took part in maintenance, helping to check the “Fluid Systems Servicer”the system “which drains, purges and circulates fluids on systems on board the ISS”NASA explained on July 12. Butch Wilmore, according to the American space agency’s account, maintained “two research freezers that preserve scientific samples”while Suni Williams “installed hardware for an experiment exploring atmospheric reentry and thermal protection systems”.

A few days later, Suni Williams turned her attention to growing plants in microgravity. According to NASA, she looked at “the use of fluid physics techniques such as surface tension, as well as hydroponics and air circulation, to overcome the lack of gravity when watering and feeding plants grown in space”.

On the scientific side, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore also handled a device called Ultrasound 2. After inspecting veins in the neck, shoulders and legs in turn, Butch Wilmore scanned Matthew Dominick’s veins, “helping researchers understand how microgravity affects the human body”.

How much longer can this long, unexpected cohabitation last? NASA assures that it has sufficient quantities of food on board the ISS (Starliner was loaded with equipment and food). However, there is no question of leaving Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore in the station for several months.

Steve Stich mentioned, during a press briefing on July 10, a usual rotation of teams within the ISS around the middle of August. If the laboratory that orbits above our heads, at an altitude of 400 km, is rather free at the moment, it risks filling up next month. “Obviously, a few days before the opportunity for this launch, we will need to bring Butch home [Wilmore] and Suni [Williams] with the Starliner”he noted. If NASA acknowledged on Thursday that it “always had backup options”the space agency reiterated that the goal was to bring the pair back safely with the Boeing aircraft.

After this fundamental priority, the question of the difficulties for the American manufacturer arises. Already entangled for many months in very serious problems with its civil aircraft, Boeing must now get back on track, restore its image, gain the trust of potential customers and, finally, have Starliner certified for future flights.