Boeing Space’s troubled Starliner spacecraft will be discussed during NASA’s next media conference on Wednesday, August 7.
The spacecraft has been stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) since docking there in early June on a mission that was supposed to last about 10 days.
The Starliner mission, which transported crew to orbit for the first time, suffered issues with five of its thrusters on its approach to the ISS, and also suffered a helium leak. The thrusters control the orientation of the spacecraft and will therefore play an important role in guiding the vehicle toward its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on the return voyage.
Concerns about the thrusters have prompted the mission team to postpone the return journey while engineers try to determine if the vehicle can be relied upon to safely bring home the Starliner’s two astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
Wednesday’s update is expected to reveal the progress that engineers have made in determining whether the Starliner is safe to fly its crew members back home, and could even reveal a targeted flight date.
How to listen in
NASA’s audio-only media teleconference will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, August 7. You can listen in via the video player embedded at the top of this page, or by heading to NASA’s YouTube channel.
Besides the Starliner, space agency officials will also discuss ongoing ISS operations and the SpaceX Crew-9 mission. NASA announced on Tuesday that due to the Starliner issue, it is no longer targeting August 18 for the Crew-9 launch and is instead looking to begin the mission no earlier than September 24.
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