Starliner will face an indefinite wait in space while NASA investigates its malfunction

in an update Released late Friday evening, NASA said he was “adjusting” the date Starliner The spacecraft’s return to Earth has been postponed from June 26 to an unspecified time in July.

The announcement was made after two days of long meetings to review the readiness of the spacecraft, which was developed by NASA. BoeingThese meetings, which included high-level participation from senior agency leaders, including Associate Administrator Jim Free, to escort NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth.

This “Crew Flight Test,” which launched atop an Atlas V rocket on June 5, was originally scheduled to undock and return to Earth on June 14. However, as NASA and Boeing engineers studied the data, Problematic flight of the vehicle Since going to the International Space Station, he has turned down several opportunities to return.

He did so again Friday night, citing the need to spend more time reviewing the data.

“Taking my time”

“We’re taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. In NASA update“We’re using the data to inform decisions related to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking.”

A few days earlier, on Tuesday, NASA and Boeing officials had set a return date to Earth for June 26. But that was before a series of meetings on Thursday and Friday, during which mission managers were to review findings about two critical issues with the Starliner spacecraft: five separate leaks in the helium system that pressurizes Starliner’s propulsion system and the failure of five of the vehicle’s 28 reaction-control system thrusters as Starliner approached the station.

NASA’s update doesn’t provide any details about what was discussed during these meetings, but it’s clear that agency leaders were not comfortable with all of the contingencies that Wilmore and Williams could face during their return flight to Earth, including safely undocking from the space station, moving away, performing a de-orbit burn, separating the crew capsule from the service module, and then flying through the planet’s atmosphere before landing under parachutes in the New Mexico desert.

The spacecraft has a range of 45 days

Now, the NASA and Boeing engineering teams will take some more time. NASA has considered June 30 as a possible return date, but the agency is also interested in conducting two spacewalks outside the station, the sources said. These spacewalks, currently planned for June 24 and July 2, will now go ahead. Starliner will make its return to Earth sometime later, possibly not before the July 4 holiday.

“We are using the extra time strategically to clear the way for some critical station activities, while also completing preparations for Butch and Suni’s return to Starliner and gaining valuable information about systems upgrades for post-certification missions,” Stich said.

In some ways, it’s helpful for NASA and Boeing to have Starliner docked at the space station for longer periods of time. They can collect more data about the vehicle’s performance on long-duration missions — eventually Starliner will fly operational missions that will enable astronauts to stay in orbit for up to six months at a time.

However, the spacecraft is only rated to stay at the space station for 45 days, and that clock started on June 6. Furthermore, it’s not optimal that NASA feels the need to delay the spacecraft just to be comfortable with its performance on the return trip to Earth. During two news conferences since Starliner docked at the station, officials have downplayed the overall severity of these issues — repeatedly saying that Starliner is allowed to come home “in the event of an emergency.” But they have yet to fully explain why they’re not yet comfortable leaving Starliner to fly back to Earth under normal circumstances.

This story was originally published here Ars Technica,