Astronauts Disclose Harrowing Starliner System Failures After Near-Fatal Boeing Mission
Astronauts Reveal Near-Catastrophic Starliner Malfunction During Stranded ISS Mission
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, stranded aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for 286 days due to a Boeing Starliner malfunction, shared harrowing details of their near-disastrous journey. Initially planned as an eight-day mission in June 2023, their return was delayed aftercritical thruster failures during docking nearly left them adrift in space.
During their first interviews since returning to Earth last month, the pair described how their Starliner spacecraft experienced sudden thruster outages as they approached the ISS. Wilmore, who had taken manual control of the capsule, lost four of the ship’s thrusters, jeopardizing their ability to steer.
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams faced thruster failures during their Starliner docking attempt.
Flight protocols required them to abort docking, but Wilmore feared losing control entirely. “I don’t know that we can come back to Earth… I’m thinking we probably can’t,” he told Arstechnica. With the ISS “a stone’s throw away,” he faced a split-second decision: risk docking or attempt an uncertain return. Williams recalled their silent communication, saying, “We didn’t know why the thrusters failed or how to fix it.”
Wilmore described visualizing orbital mechanics as the Starliner drifted below the station. “If you’re below the ISS, you’re moving faster. We started deviating,” he explained. The spacecraft’s vision system, which uses the ISS as a reference point, began to falter, heightening fears of an automatic abort.
NASA engineers managed to reboot the thrusters remotely, but only after Wilmore relinquished control. “That was not easy to do,” he admitted. The duo docked safely, though Williams recalled the tension dissolving into relief: “I did a little happy dance… We were just glad to be there.”
The Starliner’s thruster failure nearly prevented docking with the ISS (shown above).
Despite the successful docking, Wilmore knew the Starliner might not be their ride home. “I called the ISS flight director and asked, ‘Is this spacecraft our safe haven?’” he said. NASA eventually enlisted SpaceX’s Dragon capsule for their rescue, which brought them back safely in May 2024.
Williams and Wilmore were rescued via SpaceX’s Dragon capsule after 286 days in orbit.
The ordeal highlighted risks in Boeing’s Starliner program, already marred by delays. For the astronauts, the mission underscored the unpredictability of space travel. “We might not come home in this spacecraft,” Wilmore recalled thinking. Yet, their calm under pressure and NASA’s quick response averted disaster, marking another chapter in humanity’s tenuous grasp on orbital survival.
Final Glimpse:
The astronauts’ mission stretched from 8 days to nearly 10 months due to Starliner’s malfunctions.
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