In a growing concern, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore are stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) as engineers continue to fix the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that will take them back to Earth.
Originally slated to spend eight days on the orbiting space laboratory, the astronauts reached the ISS on June 6.
Twenty days later, NASA and Boeing leadership are still adjusting the return to Earth of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft which suffered a small helium system leak on its way.
Now, according to a Boeing spokesperson, four of the five thrusters that were previously shutting down are operating normally.
"This means only one thruster out of 27 is currently offline. This does not present an issue for the return mission," the spokesperson added.
According to Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme, "we are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process".
"We are letting the data drive our decision-making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking," Stich said in a statement.
According to the US space agency, the spacecraft requires seven hours of time to perform a normal end-of-mission and it "currently has enough helium left in its tanks to support 70 hours of free flight activity following undocking".
India leads global AI adoption with 30pc companies maximising AI value: Report
India leads Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption with 30 per cent of companies in the country having maximised AI’s value potential -- surpassing the global average of 26 per cent, according to a report.
IIT Madras, ISRO to study spacecraft & launch vehicle-related thermal management
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Monday announced a collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for research in ‘Fluid and Thermal Sciences’.
Scientists to probe if grape juice chemical can prevent bowel cancer
The team will probe a chemical called resveratrol -- a naturally occurring ingredient found in grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and peanuts -- for potential cancer prevention.
Musk’s SpaceX wins $733 million launch contract from US Space Force
The US Space Force’s Space Systems Command issued Launch Service Task Orders (LSTOs) totalling $733,566,001 to SpaceX under the “National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1.”
India takes lead in 6G after record 5G roll out: Experts
After a successful 5G rollout, the country is now taking lead in 6G as the ‘Digital India’ initiative transforms the economy, with the Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity emerging as a solid foundation block, experts said here on Friday.
NASA-SpaceX's Europa Clipper off to explore Jupiter's ocean world
"Today, we embark on a new journey across the solar system in search of the ingredients for life within Jupiter's icy moon. Our next chapter in space exploration has begun," he added.
Indian conglomerates set to spend $800 bn on growth, new businesses in focus
Indian conglomerates are likely to spend about $800 billion on growth over the next 10 years, almost triple of what they spent over the prior decade, a report showed on Monday.
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to lift off on Monday: SpaceX
After being stalled due to hurricane Milton, NASA’s Europa Clipper mission aims to fly to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa in search of life on Monday, SpaceX has said.