June 29 (UPI) — An initial eight-day Boeing Starliner test mission to the International Space Station will be extended indefinitely to test the spacecraft’s thrusters. Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely aboard the ISS and are not stranded in space, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said during a briefing Friday. […]
The first astronaut mission of Boeing’s Starliner capsule has been extended again. Starliner will remain docked with the International Space Station (ISS) until at least July 2, roughly a week later than the previously stated target date of June 26. The extra time will allow Boeing and NASA more time to assess several issues that […]
The return to Earth of Boeing’s Starliner capsule will be delayed a few more days due to thruster troubleshooting and a scheduled spacewalk. NASA announced today (June 18) that Starliner will conclude its first human mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than June 26, nearly three weeks after it launched. Landing that […]
When NASA astronauts tried to dock Boeing’s first crewed Starliner spacecraft at the International Space Station Thursday (June 6), they had to wait. Five aft thrusters on the Starliner service module were out. And that was after flight controllers found workarounds for two new helium leaks on the spacecraft on top of one it already […]
Boeing’s Starliner capsule has arrived at its orbital destination. Starliner reached the International Space Station (ISS) today (June 6), making contact with the orbiting lab at 1:34 p.m. EDT (1734 GMT) as the duo flew over the southern Indian Ocean. That was a bit later than originally planned. Starliner missed its first docking chance, at […]
The planned docking of a Boeing Starliner capsule carrying its first astronauts to the International Space Station has been delayed as teams work to troubleshoot problems affecting the propulsion system, NASA said Thursday. Crewmates Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are currently holding around 650 feet (200 meters) from the orbital outpost because of issues with […]
The BepiColombo spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), could be feeling the heat even before it reaches its destination: Mercury. Thanks to a glitch, the spacecraft’s thrusters are no longer operating at full power. The team has yet to determine how this will impact upcoming maneuvers, like […]
For more than five years, a pair of spacecraft have been traveling through the solar system to reach the innermost planet Mercury and observe its extreme conditions. During its complex journey, the BepiColombo mission ran into a problem that’s preventing its thrusters from operating at full power, potentially jeopardizing the mission. BepiColombo launched in October […]
Ion thrusters are the most common primary engine powering satellites through orbital maneuvers today. But to travel from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to farther orbits—or even the Moon—requires a different kind of ion thruster capable of achieving escape velocity and orbital capture maneuvers. Using technology originally developed for NASA’s upcoming lunar space station, the space agency […]
Three astronauts floating backwards through adoorway of international space station. Move over, Space Mountain. Three astronauts created their own “amusement park” ride using an entire space station. The International Space Station needs to raise its orbit, or reboost, every so often to avoid falling back into Earth’s atmosphere. So a Russian Progress spacecraft fired its […]