Anxiety Builds On Earth As Sunita Williams Remains Stuck In Space Due To ISS Helium Leaks | What We Know

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore jet off towards the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5 onboard a Boeing Starliner. Wilmore and Williams were scheduled to return to Earth via the Starliner on June 22. That was deferred to June 26, and then pushed back again last week to an undetermined date.

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The return trip for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams has been delayed until at least July 2.

The delay in astronauts' return to earth is reportedly due to a series of helium leaks on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft which NASA engineers are working to fix.

The Boeing Starliner can spend up to 45 days docked to the space station. With over 25 days having passed, the spacecraft has around 22 days to return safely to Earth.

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Did Boeing and NASA Hide Critical Starliner Leak Before Launch?

Even though NASA said Wilmore and Williams are not "stranded" and are being kept in orbit passed their planned return to "allow mission teams time to review propulsion system data," a new CBS News report revealed how despite deeming the rocket safe for launch both NASA and Boeing managers were aware of the leak.

NASA and Boeing considered the leak to be too small to turn into a safety threat for the mission and the spacecraft, the CBS News report mentioned.

The launch had already been postponed once due to a different leak. Once in orbit, four additional helium leaks developed, making one thruster unusable.

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"We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process," NASA's Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement to CBS News. "We are letting the data drive our decision-making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking."

Boeing is already under fire after high-profile malfunctions of its planes over the past year, with at least 20 whistleblowers coming forward to voice concerns about safety and quality issues at the aerospace giant.

Sunita Williams, Wilmore Take Emergency Shelter

Sunita Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore were forced to take emergency shelter in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft and other return vehicles due to an order was issued over space debris that threatened the orbiting laboratory on Wednesday.

The incident took place when NASA was informed of a satellite break-up at an altitude near the station, according to information cited in an indiatoday.in report.

As a standard precautionary measure, Mission Control instructed all crew members to seek shelter in their respective spacecraft, after which Williams and Wilmore took refuge in the Starliner capsule.

Mission Control closely monitored the path of the debris for approximately an hour, while the astronauts remained in the shelters they took. After immediate threat passed, the crew was given a go-ahead to exit their spacecraft and resume normal operations on the station.