Starliner Spacecraft Cancels Return On June 25

JAKARTA The Starliner spacecraft was supposed to leave the International Space Station (ISS) on June 25. However, this return schedule was again postponed by NASA and Boeing.

Starliner's return schedule still has to be postponed as technicians from NASA have not finished studying the issues in the propulsion system. With this decision made, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay longer on the ISS.

So far, NASA has postponed Starliner's return schedule four times. However, in contrast to the previous three delays, NASA only revealed that Starliner and its crew would be repatriated in early July.

"(we) are evaluating the chances of a spacecraft returning in the future after scheduled space travel on July 2, the second of a pair of planned space travel on the ISS," NASA said, quoted by Spacenews.

Meanwhile, NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Rights said technicians were trying to follow the mission management team's standards. They continue to observe and find solutions to the problem of helium leakage and driving performance.

"We are allowing data to push for our decision-making in connection with the management of small leaks of the helium system and the driving performance we observed during the meeting and docking", explainsTEN.

However, with at least the time the technicians have, NASA will conduct an institutional level review to speed up observations. This is done so that Starliners do not stay more than a month on the ISS.