[Breitbart] NASA astronauts have been left stranded in space as the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that they traveled to orbit on is facing several issues.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are currently stuck aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after engineers discovered the Starliner was experiencing five thruster malfunctions and five helium leaks, according to Live Science. The astronauts were initially slated to return to Earth on June 13, however, NASA said on June 18, that they were shooting for a June 26 return date.
“We’ve learned that our helium system is not performing as designed,” Mark Nappi, the program manager for Boeing’s Starliner said. “Albeit manageable, it’s still not working like we designed it. So we’ve got to go figure that out.”
The issues with the Starliner were reportedly discovered by engineers during the 25-hour flight after the spacecraft had taken off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida this month. |