Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is shown docked with the International Space Station.
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Boeing's Starliner crew spacecraft will remain docked to the International Space Station through August, NASA confirmed Thursday, as the mission remains on hold while the company and agency study problems that arose early in the flight.
The Starliner “Calypso” capsule that carried NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station has been in space for 50 days and counting. Boeing's crew flight test has been extended several times as NASA conducted ground tests before clearing the spacecraft to return the two astronauts to Earth.
NASA commercial crew manager Steve Stich said during a news conference Thursday that the agency was not ready to set a return date.
“We're making great progress, but we're not ready to do that yet,” Stich said.
NASA needs to conduct a review that won't happen until the first week of August, Stich said, and only after that review will the agency schedule Starliner's return.
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Earlier this month, Boeing and NASA began testing the spacecraft's faulty propulsion system on the ground at White Sands, New Mexico. The organizations are currently analyzing the propellant that was tested at White Sands and expect the Starliner capsule to conduct firing tests while docked to the ISS this weekend.
Stich again acknowledged that NASA has contingency plans in place in case the agency determines that Starliner must return without Wilmore and Williams, alternatives that include using SpaceX's Dragon capsule to bring back NASA astronauts.
