The first crewed voyage of Boeing’s Starliner was supposed to last around a week, but the high-stakes mission is still in limbo eight weeks after launch.

Their high-stakes mission was supposed to last about a week — but 56 days later, two NASA astronauts are still aboard the International Space Station, waiting as teams on the ground try to figure out how to bring them home safely in the Boeing spaceship they rode to orbit.

The beleaguered Starliner capsule has two problems: its propulsion system is leaking helium and five of its thrusters malfunctioned as it was docking with the space station. Mission managers were aware of the leaks before the vehicle lifted off but had said they were unlikely to affect the flight or the astronauts’ safety.

  • @MagicShel
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    61 month ago

    I’ll take that shred of hope. Thanks.

    • ggppjj
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      31 month ago

      As an aside, turning on split vote count display on Lemmy really shows how petty some people can be.

      Who in their right mind decided that this comment was worth a downvote?

      • @MagicShel
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        11 month ago

        I have a very small very petty fan club. Fortunately, I don’t care other than I laugh that I’m living in their head rent free.