Boeing Starliner astronauts not as stranded as we think

Boeing Starliner astronauts not as stranded as we think

Ohio State professor explains intricacies of situation on International Space Station

Last month, space fans around the world were captivated by the story of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two NASA astronauts whose eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was being extended by almost eight months due to mechanical issues in their spacecraft.

Williams and Wilmore were testing Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Upon arriving at the ISS, the crew discovered that five of the craft's 28 thrusters had malfunctioned.

While many people were surprised by the news, John Horack, the Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Technology at The Ohio State University, was not.

"My initial reaction was, 'Yep, that's a test flight,'" he said. "Test flights are never perfect and if they are, you should ask yourself what wasn't found that should have been."

Four of the thrusters have since been repaired but, Horack said, concerns for the astronauts' safety remain paramount.

"[In space], any problem, regardless of size, can be catastrophic," he said.

Referring to the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster, he said, "We had many successful shuttle flights. We also never had a flight launch where literally zero foam came off the tank. On the Columbia flight, a piece of foam came off the tank, hit the leading edge of the orbiter's wing and created a large hole. The inrush of hot gas through that hole upon re-entry cause the loss of the wing from the inside, and the destruction of the vehicle."

A similarly small equipment failure led to the death of all seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1986. Understandably, NASA places even greater emphasis on safety, both on Earth and in space.

"Columbia and Challenger are front of mind," Horack said. "Those changed the culture at NASA. They are actively trying to listen to anyone who has anything close to a valid set of data, a reasonable conclusion or something to offer so that no stone is left unturned when trying to figure out what comes next."

What is challenging about this situation, Horack said, is that NASA was not be able to examine the Starliner craft after it returned to Earth Sept. 6. The malfunction is occurring not in the capsule that houses the astronauts but in the service module, which is designed to burn up during re-entry.

"In space flight, we're deeply committed to looking at the hardware, because that's where you find the real evidence of what happened," he said. "When you can't look at the hardware, you have to be careful about what you infer and how you test."

Williams and Wilmore will not be alone on the ISS. There are currently seven other astronauts in the station. The introduction of two more won't be a challenge, Horack said. Supplies are routinely sent to the ISS without human space flight. And two new personalities ought to be invigorating.

"Two new people show up? It's refreshing," he said. "Plus, they all know each other. They train together, they fly together, they sit together in the astronaut office. There's a sense of camaraderie there."

In addition, Horack said there's plenty to do on the ISS: routine maintenance and housekeeping as well as experiments and research.

"Crew time is the most scarce and precious resource up there," he said. "So to have two extra sets of hands and two extra brains, I think that's probably joyful in a certain way, and absolutely productive."

Astronaut temperament also helps make large adjustments easier, Horack said.

"All the way back to the very beginning of the astronaut program, they select for resilience," he said. "That's the first thing they look for: What is your resiliency? How do you approach problems? … NASA has always paid very close attention to the human makeup of the people assigned to the crew."

While the situation has not unfolded as planned, Horack does not agree that the astronauts are "stranded," as so many have put it. If there were an emergency, he said, the entire crew could come home.

"We never, ever have a situation where we have more people on the space station than there are seats to come home," he said.

More importantly, though, this is what astronauts do.

"You spend your whole life applying to be an astronaut," Horack said. "And now, suddenly, you're doing something that you've aspired to do your whole life, for months. I'm sure there are mental adjustments that have to be made and some disappointment that the original plan didn't quite work out, but Butch and Suni, they've spent their whole lives working towards the goal of being a human being who lives and works in space. That's what they are. They're astronauts."

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