NASA astronauts optimistic Boeing Starliner will get them home after testing

More than a month after Boeing’s Starliner took two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), the pair remains in space after a series of problems with the spacecraft. However, for the first time since the crew docked at the ISS, the astronauts gave their first news conference in orbit on Wednesday, July 10.

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams said they expect to return home once thruster testing is completed on Earth. The pair expressed confidence in the capsule’s ability to get them safely back home.

“I have a real good feeling in my heart that this spacecraft will bring us home,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, Wilmore helped provide an update on what the testing on the ground will entail.

“We are actually doing thruster testing in White Sands, New Mexico,” Wilmore said. “Going through that process, trying to replicate what we saw on that flight day two when we were rendezvousing and we’re going to learn from that. We’re going to incorporate new processes, new procedures, that we will employ, if necessary.”

As previously reported, the Boeing Starliner mission to the ISS should have ended between June 18-22. However, ongoing thruster problems and helium leaks have kept the Starliner in space.

Five thrusters failed as the spacecraft approached the ISS on June 6, one day after liftoff. Four of the thrusters have since brought back online and the crew believes that will be enough to get them out of orbit.

Boeing and NASA said the ground tests are crucial because during the landing process for the Starliner, the portion of the spacecraft that carries the thrusters will be discarded from the capsule. That segment also carries the portion where the helium leaks were located.

The Starliner’s landing date was pushed back twice before being postponed indefinitely while testing is underway in New Mexico.

As for the astronauts’ safety in space, NASA said that the ISS has plenty of supplies and its schedule is relatively open through mid-August. The agency said that the NASA astronauts are “integrated” with the rest of the ISS crew and have been helping with maintenance tasks.