I have seen several comments from people on Twitter as well as major news outlets that claim that Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are stranded aboard the ISS. These make me go nuts. They aren’t stranded and there aren’t any major issues.
First off, yes, there are 5 helium leaks and yes, they are the culprit for why Starliner is still at the ISS. However, just because they have delayed undocking does not mean that the astronauts are stranded. When NASA tracks issues like these, they generally take a bunch of extra precautions, especially on a test flight. The safety and well-being of the astronauts are always of paramount importance, and every necessary measure will be taken to ensure that they are comfortable and secure during their extended stay aboard the ISS. This situation also provides an invaluable opportunity for the engineers and mission control to gather additional data, further enhancing the safety and reliability of future space missions.
For the next few days (and days prior), NASA has been doing extra checks to make sure that everything is working properly and that these leaks won’t be that big of a deal, which in reality, they aren’t. The only way that the crew would be stranded on the ISS right now is if the leaks were persistent and nothing was done to mitigate them. All of the valves connecting to the leaky areas have been shut. When Boeing built Starliner, they built it in a way that would allow them to be able to use it for several days in space in case something went wrong. The lost helium hasn’t been enough to warrant any kind of discussion (at least publicly) of a rescue mission. From the time the crew will undock with the ISS and re-enter, only around 8 hours will have passed. The total amount of helium they have left will last around 70 hours. All in all, things are fine and there’s nothing to worry about.
Now, if worst comes to worst and the crew will be unable to return to Earth in Starliner. What will likely happen is the crew will stay up there for extra time and return on a Dragon or Soyuz spacecraft. However, this will not happen; nobody is stranded on the ISS. Starliner has plenty of helium, the ISS has plenty of food. Plus, their mission was only supposed to last two weeks. I’m sure the crew is thrilled that they get to spend extra time in space. It also doesn’t hurt to have a few extra hands to help out.
My name is Iain Dempsey. I am the founder and Content Director at Max-Q News. I’ve been covering the space industry for over two years and an avid follower for over 7 years. In my spare time I watch standup comedy and listen to an obscene number of podcasts. My favorite hobby is making and drinking espresso!
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