Washington: There is good news for NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who has been stuck in space for over a month and a half. NASA and Boeing engineers have completed the testing of the Starliner spaceship’s thrusters. The teams were waiting for the completion of these tests to plan the spaceship’s return.
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore went to space on June 5th on the Starliner spacecraft. They were supposed to spend a week at the International Space Station and then return to Earth. However, after launch, a helium leak and thruster malfunction were detected, which delayed their return. They have been stuck at the space station for over a month and a half.
Engineers have been working to fix the problems with the spacecraft to prepare it for return. The latest update says that the thruster testing has been completed to understand why some thrusters stopped working during the flight. This will help the team to determine the impact on the rest of the crew flight test.
Helium Leak Fixed The helium tanks that control the thrusters were leaking before launch, causing a delay. Last month, officials said that the spacecraft had 70 hours of helium, while only 7 hours are needed for return. Earlier this month, officials said that the spacecraft could return if needed, but they were not fully prepared. The latest update from NASA and Boeing says that the return flight could happen by the end of this month.