2024-09-03 12:52:54
Reproduction/Globo Television
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore are trapped in space
A NASA,
The American space agency revealed what “strange noises” astronaut Butch Wilmore heard last Saturday (31). He is “trapped” in space after the capsule that would take him International Space Station
present problems. (Listen below)
Last weekend, he noticed the noise
leaving the Starliner spacecraft
and contacted NASA technicians in Houston, Texas.
According to NASA, the speaker noise was the result of an audio setup between the space station and Starliner. Shortly after the astronaut complained, the noise stopped.
“The space station’s audio system is complex, allowing several spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and noise and feedback are common. The crew is advised to contact mission control when they hear sounds coming from the communications system.”
Agents on the ground confirmed that the loudspeaker feedback reported by Wilmore has no technical impact on the crew, the Starliner or station operations, “including the unmanned dismissal of the Starliner from the station, scheduled for no earlier than Monday Friday, September 6,” the agency said.
The noise
“I have a question about Starliner,” Wilmore radioed into Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “There’s a strange noise coming from the speaker… I don’t know what’s causing it.”
The trapped astronaut said he did not know if there was any anomaly in the link that could have caused the sounds. He asked the coordinators on Earth if they could verify what happened. Moments later, Mission Control responded over the radio that they were connected to listen to the sound inside the Starliner.
Wilmore placed his microphone close to the audio outputs and heard something. “It was like a pulsating noise, almost like a sonar sound”, reports the astronaut in a recording of Wilmore’s conversation with Mission Control.
“I’ll do it one more time, and I’ll let you scratch your head to try to figure out what’s going on. Okay, it’s up to you now. Call us if you figure out what it is,” says the astronaut. .
Built
After more than two months of difficulties, NASA announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return to Earth in February 2025 aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission, directed by Elon Musk.
The two astronauts have been on the International Space Station for more than two months, and the mission was originally scheduled to last about eight days.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft, in which they were supposed to return, presented significant problems while entering the station and, therefore, it will be returned unmanned.
NASA reported that the decision to postpone the return was made in collaboration with Boeing experts, who considered that the Starliner posed significant risks to the crew.
The main problem was identified in the Starliner service module, a part of the spacecraft that was discarded during the return to Earth, and requires a detailed assessment while still in space.
The problems include the failure of several thrusters in the reaction control system, which are critical to guiding the ship as it leaves the station and preparing the burn necessary to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Recently, teams from NASA and Boeing conducted tests with a thruster in White Sands, New Mexico, and also evaluated the performance of the thrusters while the spacecraft was ducked to the ISS.
Although the tests provided useful information, NASA has not yet made a final decision regarding the return of the astronauts.
In addition to postponing the Flight Readiness Review, NASA allocated approximately R$1.7 million to SpaceX on July 14 for a “special emergency response study”.
Since then, the agency has faced fierce internal debates about staff safety. Some engineers argue that, given the uncertainties with Starliner, it would be safer to opt for a return on the Crew Dragon, which has already completed 12 successful round trip missions.
Listen:
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