(by Ronny Reyes, NY Post) – Two astronauts who have already been stuck in space for more than 60 days may have to wait until early 2025 before they can return to Earth — following a trip to the International Space Station that was supposed to last just eight days.
NASA also acknowledged that the astronauts, who arrived on the maiden voyageof the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, may have to be rescued by the rival SpaceX CrewDragon, though that vessel won’t be ready until February.
[Last] Wednesday [August 7], NASA announced another delay in bringing home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams during a news conference, with the agency saying it’s looking more closely at an alternative plan utilizing SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission.
If tests in the coming weeks suggest that making the trip home on Boeing’s Starliner proves too risky, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said Wilmore and Williams would have no choice but to hop on [SpaceX’s] Crew-9 return flight in February 2025.
“We have been working with SpaceX to ensure they are ready to respond with Crew-9 as a contingency,” Stich said.
“We need to probably decide, likely in the middle of August, one path or the other to go ahead and meet the launch date for Crew-9,” he added.
The SpaceX mission was initially set to take off on Aug. 18 with the expectation that Boeing’s Starliner would have returned home by then, with the flight now delayed to Sept. 24.
The Crew-9 mission is a routine flight slated to bring four astronauts to replace members of the Crew-8 team aboard the International Space Station.
NASA said SpaceX’s Crew Dragon ship, which normally carries two to four passengers at a time, can fit additional occupants if needed.
Although NASA is actively working with SpaceX on the contingency plan, it has yet to make a final decision on which shuttle the two astronauts will be returning home in.
“We have not formally committed to this path, but we wanted to ensure we had all that flexibility in place,” Stich said.
Willmore and Williams were meant to spend just eight days in space following their launch aboard the Boeing Starliner on June 6 — the maiden crewed voyage for the spacecraft.
Once in space, the crew found a series of concerning helium leaks and thruster failures that have left NASA and Boeing scrambling to find a solution.
Should SpaceX, a Boeing rival, be tapped to bring the astronauts home, it could spell another embarrassing blow to the embattled aerospace giant.
Published at nypost .com on August 7, 2024. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.
Questions
NOTE: Read the “Background” below and watch the video under “Resources.” Then answer the questions.
1. The first paragraph of a news article should answer the questions who, what, where and when. List the who, what, where and when of this news story. (NOTE: The remainder of a news article provides details on the why and/or how.)
2. a) What is a maiden voyage?
b) What caused the maiden voyage of Boeing’s Starliner to fail?
3. What contingency plan is NASA considering?
4. Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager “We need to probably decide, likely in the middle of August, one path or the other to go ahead and meet the launch date for Crew-9.” It was reported in July that the astronauts would be home by August. What is your response to the delays? (NASA knows best – they’re working as fast as they can – too many delays – just bring them home…) Explain your answer.
5. On July 25, the Post reported: “Mark Nappi, manager of the Boeing Starliner program, said Boeing ultimately regrets announcing that Wilmore and Williams’ mission would be eight days, as the delays have garnered backlash against the troubled aerospace giant. ‘My regret is that we didn’t say we would stay up there until the mission is complete, but I’m very confident we have a good vehicle to bring the crew back.’
What do you think of Mr. Nappi’s statement?
Background
Size and facilities
The International Space Station (ISS) is 356ft end-to-end, one yard shy of the full length of an American football field including the end zones.
The living and work space, NASA says, is larger than a six-bedroom house, and has six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym, and a 360-degree view bay window. …
Ms Williams and Mr Wilmore aren’t alone; they’re sharing the facilities with seven other astronauts from other missions; four of them fellow Americans and three of them Russians.
Is there enough food, water and oxygen?
Yes, there are reserve supplies up there to keep astronauts going for plenty of time.
The space station has its own oxygen-generating systems, and about 50% of oxygen exhaled from carbon dioxide is recovered.
As for water, the station has a urine-into-drinking-water recycling system, and a part of that system also captures moisture released into the cabin air from the crew’s breath and sweat.
Food supplies are a bit fancier. Meals are created at NASA’s Space Food Systems Laboratory in Houston, where chefs focus on making food appetizing as well as nutritious.
Much of it is dehydrated, meaning it has to be filled up with water before being consumed, while some is ready-made and just needs to be heated.
There’s meat (barbecued beef brisket is one example of a meal on offer), eggs, vegetables, bread, savory snacks and sweet treats in the station’s kitchen.
Crew members are also allowed to request some of their own personal favorites from off the shelves.
In a video on NASA’s YouTube channel, Ms Williams revealed her favorite commodity was Nutter Butter spread – and showed off a jar her family had sent up for her.
When were supplies last sent?
The spacecraft regularly receives more supplies from Earth, with the last one arriving on August 6th.
Launched on a rocket from Kazakhstan on May 30th, the supplies included about three tonnes of food, fuel and other supplies for Ms Williams, Mr Wilmore and the seven other crew members on board.
The crew can essentially place their orders for what they want to come on these crafts by speaking to Mission Control ahead of launches.
That was good news for Mr Wilmore and Ms Williams, who were forced to ditch their personal suitcases before taking off in June to make room for extra equipment, meaning they’ve had to wear spare clothes that were already at the ISS upon arrival.
Their own clothes finally arrived with the August 6th supplies, and more supplies are set to be sent up in a few months.
Once supply ships are emptied at the ISS, the crew fill them with their rubbish before sending them back to Earth.
(from an Aug. 11 Sky News report by Jake Levison)
Resources
Watch an August 8, 2024 NBC report:
Get Free Answers
Daily “Answers” emails are provided for Daily News Articles, Tuesday’s World Events and Friday’s News Quiz.
