Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — two veteran NASA astronauts piloting the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — have now been in space for 63 days, roughly seven weeks longer than initially expected. There is still no clear return date in sight. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port.
As analysis to understand the issues that Starliner experienced en route to the International Space Station continues, NASA is exploring various contingency options, the space agency confirmed during a news conference Wednesday. Those contingencies include keeping Williams and Wilmore on the orbiting laboratory for another six months and bringing them home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle in 2025. CNN confirmed on Tuesday that NASA has not yet started a “flight readiness review” for the Starliner crew’s return from the space station.
The agency had said on July 26 that it would begin that process in the first couple days of August. But Boeing and NASA teams are still working on a potential return date as officials evaluate testing data and conduct analyses about the propulsion issues and helium leaks that hampered the first leg of the Starliner capsule’s flight. The ground testing that mission teams carried out in New Mexico as it worked to understand the problems led to surprising results, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial crew program manager, said Wednesday.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is seen docked to the Harmony module's forward port on July 3. The space agency had previously confirmed it found excess heat around some of the Starliner thrusters that was causing teflon seals to bulge, restricting the flow of propellant and triggering the thruster issues. Uncertainty about whether those bulging seals are indeed the root cause of the issue — and how the problem might affect the Starliner vehicle in space — are the basis for disagreements within NASA about how safe it is for crew to return on the Starliner, officials revealed at the news conference.
Starliner’s return remains uncertain as officials work to come to an agreement on how the rest of the mission that had launched June 5 should play out. “I would say that our chances of an uncrewed star liner return have increased a little bit based on where things have gone over the last week or two,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, referring to NASA’s internal review processes that need to be completed before a return date for Starliner is decided. “But again, new data coming in, new analysis, different discussion — We could find ourselves shift in another way.
” NASA has always considered returning Williams and Wilmore on a SpaceX vehicle as a mission contingency, but the primary goal is to bring the two astronauts home on Starliner. Boeing maintains that its spacecraft is safe for astronauts. However, the space agency announced Tuesday that it was delaying the launch of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, a routine flight slated to fly with four astronauts to replace the Crew-8 mission on board the International Space Station.
Crew-9 had been slated to take off as soon as Aug. 18 — with the expectation that the Starliner capsule would have returned home with its astronauts before then. Now, Crew-9 will not take off before Sept.
24, NASA said. “This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test,” NASA said in a Tuesday news release . ___ People have looked at the sky for millennia in awe of all the celestial wonders happening above.
Even today, with advanced technology and a more nuanced understanding of our solar system and the galaxies beyond, we continue to look to the sky with a great sense of fascination. The most anticipated celestial event of 2024 is the total solar eclipse on April 8. Much of the U.
S., Mexico, and Canada will be in the path of totality, meaning people in the right place will see the moon perfectly lined up in front of the sun, leaving a shaded circle of the moon and only the outer aura of the sun. The last total solar eclipse was Aug.
21, 2017. Many people marked the occasion by going outside wearing eclipse glasses and bearing witness to the remarkable event. But stargazers don't have to wait until April for exciting occurrences in the upper atmosphere.
Many thrilling astral events will happen throughout the year, many of which do not require special equipment to view. What is the most essential thing to do to increase the chances of a good view? Find a place with dark skies or at least a sky some distance away from the light pollution in cities. Stacker sourced information from NASA , weather channels, and astronomy sites to list 2024's most notable astronomical events in chronological order to help people plan their sky viewing for the year.
The Perseid meteor shower is visible every summer, and 2024 will be no different. It occurs when Earth's orbit goes through the debris a comet left behind. The moon's brightness is the most important factor in being able to see the meteor shower clearly; when the moon is dim, the sky is darker, making the Perseids easier to see.
On Aug. 12, 2024, the moon will be at half-brightness during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower. It'll create the best time to see these meteors light up the sky when it sets around midnight UTC.
Ever look at the moon and note that it seems bigger than usual? Four full moons in the fall of 2024 will appear larger than life because the moon will have moved closer to the Earth than at any other time during the year. The moon orbits around Earth in an oval shape. When it hits perigee, that is, its closest approach to Earth, it'll also be at its fullest, known as a supermoon.
Those who miss the supermoon on Aug. 19 will have a second chance to see another one during later lunar cycles on Sept. 18, Oct.
17, and Nov. 15 in 2024. The biggest mystery of the stargazing world may be answered in the fall of 2024: Will a newly discovered comet shine bright, or will anticipation for this event go bust? Comet C/2023 A3 was first spotted in late 2022 and early 2023.
Scientists determined the comet takes 80,000 years to complete an orbit around the sun. According to their estimates, it'll reach its closest point to the sun on Sept. 28, 2024.
With any luck, the comet will be bright enough to be visible to people in the southern hemisphere without any equipment through the month of September. By October, the comet will pass the sun and may become visible to people in North America by Oct. 11 or 12, 2024.
Scientists need more data about Comet C/2023 A3 to be sure, so for now, the comet remains a bit of a mystery. For those who didn't get enough excitement from the total solar eclipse in April, a second solar eclipse will occur on Oct. 2.
This time, people in South America will get the best show. The path of totality crosses over at the very bottom of Argentina and Chile. For people who don't plan to travel to remote areas of southern Argentina and Chile, a partial eclipse will be visible in North and South America.
Every December, the Geminid meteors return to fly across the night sky. The annual Geminid meteor shower is a great event for new skywatchers to view because it's one of the most reliable annual meteor showers. With clear and dark skies, about 120 meteors per hour are typically visible when the Geminids peak.
The meteors usually appear yellow and move quickly across the sky. 2024 will likely be the best year to check viewing the northern lights off bucket lists. Scientists say increased solar activity is likely to peak in 2024, which means the aurora borealis could be visible more often than in years past.
The best opportunities to see the effects of a stronger solar cycle should occur from January to October, especially around the spring and fall equinoxes. Although the northern lights may be strong enough to be visible in parts of the contiguous U.S.
occasionally, stargazers' best bet is to travel further north. Northern destinations such as Fairbanks, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; and Nordic countries offer the best opportunities to see beautiful green and red hues dance across the night sky. Story editing by Carren Jao.
Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. Photo selection by Clarese Moller. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
