this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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Originally set to return in mid-June, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams may be on the station until February, 2025.

During a press conference today, NASA representatives confirmed they have a contingency plan to bring astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams home from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they’re unable to leave sooner aboard the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that brought them there

Tests conducted at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility pointed to deformed Teflon seals being a potential cause of the Starliner’s thrusters failing, but the agency isn’t expected to make a final decision on whether or not Williams and Wilmore will return using Boeing’s spacecraft until mid-August.

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[–] sgibson5150@slrpnk.net 97 points 3 months ago (2 children)

TFW you spend the R&D money on hitmen

[–] grue@lemmy.world 43 points 3 months ago (1 children)

More like when you spend the QA money on hitmen.

[–] joyjoy@lemm.ee 4 points 3 months ago

When the marketing department has some extra funds, so they rescue their competitor.

[–] dactylotheca@suppo.fi 14 points 3 months ago (15 children)

I doubt they spent all that much money murking whatshisname. The R&D money goes to the parasites known as executives and shareholders

[–] towerful@programming.dev 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Gotta research dividends!

Edit:
Maybe Boeing made a simple mistake and invested in Relaxation & Dividends, instead of Research & Development.

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[–] ClanOfTheOcho@lemmy.world 31 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But totally not stranded... -NASA, probably

[–] blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io 14 points 3 months ago (2 children)

No because there's always the possibility to use one of the extra Soyuz from the station.

[–] mercano@lemmy.world 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Yes and no. One of the problems right now is each of the three capsule designs uses a different pressure suit, with different hookups, and each relies on a custom fitted seat liner to absorb some of the shock of landing / splashdown, so if you’re planning on landing on a different ship then you launched on, they need to send up a new seat liner & space suit.

This was half a problem even with the shuttle. You still needed a different spacesuit, but because it landed gently on a runway, it didn’t require custom seats.

[–] DmMacniel@feddit.org 5 points 3 months ago

Ah come on. Don't tell us it's the square plug into the round receptacle issue all over again (Apollo 13 style)?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Technically not stranded is still stranded when NASA won't give them permission to leave.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (16 children)

Did they ask for permission to leave?

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[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 26 points 3 months ago (2 children)

The industry gossip/theory going around is that there’s a software issue in Starliner that makes it incapable of autonomously returning to Earth. This is probably NASA’s way of telling Boeing to fix it to a satisfactory degree of confidence before a given deadline, or else.

Arguably that alone is enough reason to completely abandon Starliner as an option for the return trip.

[–] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's only an issue in that the logic isn't currently turned on. The capsule can do it just fine. It just wasn't the point of this mission.

NASA update earlier today said Boeing can turn the ability on if needed. Will just need time for update and then testing to make sure it's all good to go.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It takes no fewer than 4 weeks (!!!) to “turn the logic on”. The software that is currently loaded on Starliner cannot autonomously return - they will have to reflash the entire system.

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[–] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It seems like there is disagreement within NASA whether it is safe for the astronauts to return on Starliner or not.

Boeing engineers did test on the ground to try to replicate the issue that is occuring on the thrusters. They found thqt the issue isndue to a Teflon seals bulging but they don't understand precisely why is the seal buldging and when it occurs.

However they feel confident enough that the problem would not happen on the way back to earth. Some people are NASA are not as confident as they are and would like to know the precise cause of the bulging.

About the software: there is a capability in the software for the capsule to undock autonomously.

However it would means resurrecting parameters that have not been used and updated since 2022, there is some reconfiguration needed and testing to make sure it still does what is needed despite the different hardware and software change that happened since then.

It is really not looking good for Boeing right now and I don't know if the Starliner program will survive this accident.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/nasa-official-acknowledges-internal-disagreement-on-safety-of-starliner-return/2/

[–] kamenlady@lemmy.world 23 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Fuck Boeing - for real fr

Playing with the lives of people seems now to be officially their thing.

[–] sunzu@kbin.run 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Didn't they murder a witness earlier this year tho?

[–] TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Just sit right back

And you'll hear a tale

A tale of a fateful trip,

That started from a tropic port,

Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailin' lass.

The Skipper brave and sure,

Two passengers set sail that day,

For an eight day tour,

A eight day tour.

[–] Xtallll@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 months ago

I started reading this to Fresh Prince, and I got pretty far before I realized it should be Gilligan.

[–] clif@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago

We can take you to the ISS, bringing you back is... Complicated

[–] greenshirtdenimjeans@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

A 3 hour tour

An 8 day mission

[–] Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I get that being trapped in a tube that is essentially a tiny little bubble of habitable area in the vast, hostile, emptiness of space can already be super claustrophobia inducing and they are vetted and trained for that. But it seems once you are up there and you realize the world's leaders in space, and the people that sent you can't figure out how to get you home, that would trigger that panic in anyone. If there is an emergency you have no escape and there is no rescue coming.

[–] TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

If there is an emergency you have no escape and there is no rescue coming.

In the case of emergency they will jump into the Starliner and go. And they’ll probably be fine.

If Scott Manley is to be trusted (and I think he is), what’s likely happening is that the probability of failure has gotten higher than the mission parameters. Still very low, but higher than what was planned.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

How much food and water do they even have?

[–] negativenull@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The space station has tons of stockpile of consumables like that, and are still being regularly restocked by cargo ships (unmanned).

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Can't they send one of those with a shuttle for them to fly back? Is that just prohibitively more expensive? They can be autopiloted up, right?

[–] towerful@programming.dev 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Pretty sure cargo dragon is just a stripped down crew dragon to make more space for cargo.
Or maybe, crew dragon is a cargo dragon fitted for passengers... Seeing as cargo dragon flew with cargo and docked to the ISS in 2012 (crew dragon was 2020).

Pretty sure crew dragon has all the auto/remote to fully launch and then dock to the ISS.
Cargo dragon is auto/remote docked. Doesn't even need canadarm. So would make sense that crew dragon is as well

[–] ndupont@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

You could equally fit 2 additional seats in a crew dragon, which was designed for 7 people from the beginning

[–] BastingChemina@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 months ago

Not anymore, it was designed for 7 people in 2 seat rows using propulsive landing.

During development they switched to parachute instead of propulsive landing, since parachute can be rougher they had to lean the seat more back for the astronauts to be able to handle more G's.

In this lean back position there is not enough space for a second row of seats anymore

[–] Zipitydew@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago

Plenty. Cygnus capsule that docked a few days ago was a scheduled resupply too.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 months ago

Aren't the stranded astronauts older? I am concerned about the long term damage to their bodies.

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