Astronauts' return delayed again as Boeing and NASA try to learn more about spacecraft issues

Two veteran astronauts will extend their stay on the International Space Station as teams on the ground work to better understand issues with the Boeing-built spacecraft that carried them to orbit.

Two veteran astronauts will extend their stay on the International Space Station as teams on the ground work to better understand issues with the Boeing-built spacecraft that carried them to orbit.

Boeing and NASA officials said Tuesday that Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — who arrived at the space station on June 6 for what was estimated to be roughly a weeklong visit — will not return home before June 26.

That target date marks a delay from earlier projections of June 18 and June 22.

Since launching to orbit June 5 on the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, the astronauts have navigated a number of issues with the vehicle — including malfunctioning thrusters and a series of helium leaks that sprung up en route to the space station.

Keeping the vehicle in orbit is essential to studying the issues, which occurred on the Starliner spacecraft’s service module — a cylindrical attachment that sits at the bottom of the spacecraft. The service module will be jettisoned and discarded as the capsule returns home from space.

Because the service module won’t be returning with the mission, engineers will not have an opportunity to gather more data about the technical problems after the astronauts land, noted Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, at a Tuesday news conference.

That’s why they’re are hoping to learn as much as possible while the vehicle is still docked at the space station, but none of the problems have yet threatened the overall success of the mission, Stich said.