Stochastic Scribbles
Random musings in a variety of subjects, from science to religion.

Starliner

The Starliner capsule which was launched to the International Space Station went into orbit with not much problem. However, thruster problems with the capsule led NASA to make the decision that the astronauts who went to orbit in the Starliner capsule would not take a ride on it to return to Earth, and they ended up staying on the space station far longer than originally planned.

Starliner capsule docked with the ISS; from NASA via Ars Technica

My impression of what happened at the time was that they had detected problems with some of Starliner’s thrusters, but it wasn’t too serious and the astronauts were not returning on the capsule out of an abundance of caution.

A recent interview with the astronauts revealed that the problem was far worse than the impression I had. When approaching the space station for docking, a series of thrusters started failing one by one, and it almost reached a point where they would not have been able to maneuver the space capsule to either dock with the space station or return to Earth safely. They were in danger of being truly stranded in space. Fortunately, the astronauts and ground control knew what they were doing, and they managed to dock safely with the space station.

If you are interested in space exploration or space vehicles, the interview is a worthwhile read.