Washington:
Boeing Starliner’s return to Earth from the International Space Station with its first crew of astronauts has been pushed back to June 26, a NASA official said Tuesday.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams were launched aboard Starliner June 5 and arrived at the ISS the next day, following a 24-hour flight in which the spacecraft encountered four helium leaks and five failures of its 28 maneuvering thrusters.
The delay of the return of Starliner is intended “to give our team a little bit more time to look at the data, do some analysis and make sure we’re really ready to come home,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said during a news conference.
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