NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams are still stuck indefinitely on board the International Space Station after their ride, Boeing’s plagued Starliner, sprang several helium leaks, kicking off a lengthy investigation.
And while NASA insists the pair are “not stranded in space,” the space agency still hasn’t announced a date for their long-deferred return journey.
However, Wilmore and Williams, who arrived at the station on June 6 and were meant to return on June 14, are still in good spirits.
“We’re absolutely confident,” Wilmore said during a live stream on Wednesday, their first live press conference since launching to space.
“We’ve been through a lot of simulations… and I think where we are right now… I feel confident that if we had to, if there was a problem with the International Space Station, we could get in our spacecraft, we could undock, talk to our team, and figure out the best way to come home,” Williams added.
NO PROBLEM
Even before it hobbled to the International Space Station, Boeing was struggling with the development of its Starliner spacecraft, including years of delays and technical issues.
Ever since engineers discovered several helium leaks affecting the capsule’s propulsion system, NASA and Boeing engineers have been poring over the data to figure out what went wrong.
Five thrusters failed during docking, while four have since been reactivated, as the Associated Press reports. Wilmore said there’s plenty of thrust to get them back to Earth, including even beefier backup thrusters.
“We trust that the tests that we’re doing are the ones we need to do to get the right answers, to give us the data that we need to come back,” Wilmore said.
“I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem,” Williams added.
