Editorial: Welcome home, Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore

The nine-month-long ordeal of Williams and Wilmore has exposed the vulnerabilities of space missions and loopholes in the present system of planning, testing procedures and safety standards

While the entire world heaved a sigh of relief over the safe homecoming of stranded astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, their nine-month-long ordeal has exposed the vulnerabilities of space missions and loopholes in the present system of planning, testing procedures and safety standards. What was originally planned as a brief eight-day mission intended to test the capabilities of the Boeing Starliner, a spacecraft developed as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme, turned out to be a nightmarish experience for the astronauts. They were stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) since June last year due to critical technical issues with the Starliner. The glitches in its propulsion system and thrusters prevented their safe return to the Earth. After overcoming several anxious moments and a few last-minute postponements, the stranded astronauts are finally back home. A SpaceX Dragon capsule, carrying them, splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico after a 17-hour descent. Both Boeing and NASA have egg on their faces, as the delayed mission raises several questions over human safety and exposes the dark side of space capitalism. Long been a monopoly player, Boeing has come under intense scrutiny due to the problems with Starliner, highlighting the challenges in the commercial space industry. A helium leak was detected in the Starliner even before its June 5 launch, but NASA and Boeing’s leadership dismissed the issue as too minor to delay the mission.

Williams and Wilmore lifted off in the Starliner from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and were scheduled to return on June 14. But as the Starliner approached the ISS, it encountered multiple issues including further helium leaks and thruster malfunction, making it unsafe for the return trip. There is growing criticism —justifiably so — against the aerospace giant for prioritising profits over human safety. Questions are being raised over whether the company followed the prescribed modules of safety and rescue operations without any waste of time when such glitches started appearing. Technical glitches are not predictable, but safety modules for rescue cannot have the same uncertainty. It cannot escape the accountability for the failure of thrusters and leakage of helium resulting in the deterioration of the health of the astronauts inside the auto-locked vehicle. The sequence of events raises questions about whether the launch should have gone ahead despite the leak. Another issue for NASA’s review is why these issues were not identified in any of the two previous uncrewed flight tests of Starliner. The last-minute reliance on SpaceX’s Dragon capsule exposed the friction between Elon Musk-owned relatively upstart company and Boeing, the 108-year-old aerospace giant that has been plagued by safety issues for years. Given Boeing’s repeated missteps, NASA has become increasingly dependent on SpaceX, giving Musk an undue advantage in the commercial space market.

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