The astronauts stranded on the International Space Station are still unable to return home, NASA said.
Nearly 50 days ago, two astronauts flew to the space station to test Boeing’s Starliner capsule. But the spacecraft encountered problems both before and after launch – and since then, engineers have delayed its return until they can figure out what went wrong.
The work has not yet been completed and the space agency cannot yet give a date for its return, it said in an update on Wednesday.
Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were scheduled to visit the orbiting laboratory for about a week and return in mid-June, but engine failures and helium leaks on Boeing’s new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them in orbit longer.
Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said mission managers are not yet ready to announce a return date.
“We’ll come home when we’re ready,” Stich said, adding that the goal is to return Wilmore and Williams aboard the Starliner. But he acknowledged that the space agency is considering other options — which could include sending the two home on another spacecraft.
NASA had originally declared that the spacecraft was safe for a stay of 45 days, but the astronauts have now been in space for longer. The space agency has since declared that a stay twice as long is possible – and when the spacecraft is fully operational, a stay of up to 21 days is approved.
Engineers completed tests on a replacement engine in the New Mexico desert last week to figure out what went wrong during docking and prepare for the journey home.
As the capsule approached the space station on June 6, one day after launch, five engines failed. Four of them have since been reactivated.
After the space shuttles were retired, NASA contracted private companies to fly astronauts to the space station, paying billions of dollars to Boeing and SpaceX.
This was Boeing’s first test flight with a crew on board. SpaceX has been transporting astronauts since 2020.
Additional reporting by agencies
