Boeing Embarrassed as ‘Stuck’ Astronauts to Return with SpaceX

this video was brought to you by brilliant hi welcome to another episode of Cold Fusion two astronauts from Boeing Styer Starliner are now awaiting a decision on when they can return home from space after 9 weeks on the International Space Station NASA now says mechanical issues with the Starliner could turn their planned 8-day Mission into 8 months for those who've been watching cold fusion you might know that the most popular video on this channel is about the 13 disaster which I titled three men Lost in Space so when I saw this story I knew I had to make an episode on it for astronauts Sita Sunny Williams and Barry Butch Wilmore what was supposed to be an 8-day trip back in early June has turned into months and the worst part there was a lot of uncertainty over whether their spacecraft was safe or not this meant that there was no specific return date for them imagine what they must be feeling up there the current situation really does capture one's imagination why exactly are two astronauts stuck in space what went wrong is there enough food and supplies for such a massive change of plans there's also a last minute update to the story that reflects terribly on Boeing so buckle up as we dive into this [Music] story you are watching cold fusion [Music] TV for those who don't know the International Space Station is a large spacecraft that orbits the earth roughly at an average altitude of 400 km it's a collaborative Space Project between NASA Russia's Ross Cosmos the European Space Agency Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canada space agency its purpose is to conduct scientific research in astrobiology astronomy meteorology and more throughout the year many missions take place in relation to the ISS whether it's cargo resupplying or scientific experiments the route to the Space Station is often busy the astronauts in question Sunni and but were part of one such mission in June 2024 however their primary goal was a little bit different they were going to test and evaluate the spacecraft that they'll be making a journey in the new Starliner they would report on its performance mainly how safe it was and if it was able to transport astronauts to and from the space station the plan was to stay on the International Space Station for 8 days while conducting research and Performing day-to-day routine operations for the space station but here's the punchline as alluded to the Starliner spacecraft is made by Boeing 2024 was already one of the worst years for the company and now some astronaut stranded in space can be added to the pile of mishaps so what exactly is Boeing Starliner and where did it go [Music] wrong almost 10 years ago in September 24th 14 Boeing and SpaceX were chosen by NASA as the two companies to help develop transportation for astronauts to travel to and from the ISS and other low orbit sites by 2017 Boeing had won a $4. 2 billion contract to complete and certify its Starliner class of spacecrafts and Space X won a similar contract for its Drgon spacecraft but was valued at less $2. 6 billion the Starliner actually had some pretty competitive features for example it's a reusable vessel meaning that it could potentially be used up to 10 times before requiring any refurbishment its capacity was Seven astronauts or a mix of crew and cargo it's also modular in essence so it can be launched using other Rockets like spacex's Falcon 9 so it's clear that NASA at the time valued Boeing's reliability and track record particularly over Space X who was more of a wild card than the established Boeing even 10 years ago Boeing was still a reliable name in the industry one of the best from early contributions to space travel to helping on the actual design of the International Space Station itself and its construction to commercial space efforts Boeing was always going to be the top choice for NASA but that was then and this is now 2024 has seen Boeing's reputation absolutely dragg through the dirt but even before there were a few warning signs that this mission may not be smooth sailing the Starliner Space Capsule failed to reach the proper orbit during an unmanned test flight today and there is conc concern that failure could leave the US scrambling to get its astronauts into space in 2019 the first unmanned test flight was unsuccessful due to a software issue a second test flight in 2022 was a bit better but there were issues with calling and Thruster systems the latter a foreshadowing of what was to come the current Mission with Sunni and Butch is the first crude test mission to the space station and while it successfully reached the ISS and dock successfully NASA would have likely been sorely disappointed with what happened [Music] next Starliner problems could be categorized into two categories helium leaks and Thruster malfunctions the issues on the current Mission started even before its launch a helium leak was detected in the propulsion system due to a damaged seal and after the spacecraft reached orbit there were two more helium leaks identified along with two smaller leaks post docking then there's the issue with the thrusters so the spacecraft had 28 reaction control system thrusters five out of those 28 thrusters malfunctioned and this temporarily delayed the docking process now four of them have been restored by engineers and tests performed after docking show that most of the thrusters were okay but one of them is still not performing as expected the helium leaks and Thruster issues through the confidence of the safe return of the crew into question the Boeing and NASA teams now had to troubleshoot the problems from the ground and determine if the styliner spacecraft is safe for a return Journey NASA had mentioned plans to bring in additional propulsion experts to further evaluate the issues with the Starliner quote we brought in folks from the robotic space flight community at Glenn Research Center and at the Godard space flight center at JPL they're used to analyzing propulsion systems when spacecraft are millions of miles away and they provided some useful input to us end quote that was Ken Bower Sox associate administrator for NASA's space operations Mission directorate with that being said the two companies seem at odds on August 7th Boeing stated quote we still believe in the styliner capability and it's flight rationale but Nessa would say yeah we don't really agree Ken Bower Sox again quote weave NASA and Boeing had very honest discussions with each other they have confidence in their vehicle that's what we like to hear from them but what the NASA team thinks is important and when we get to a decision we'll work through it together in an embarrassing twist the agency had a contingency plan to bring the two astronauts back on a SpaceX spacecraft NASA and Boeing Engineers disagreeing no consensus on whether or not they really understand what the problem is so unless they really understand the problem they may need to bring the crew back down on a SpaceX Drgon spacecraft of course SpaceX has been flying dragon uh to the ISS with astronauts for over 3 years and just a last minute update to The Saga I was already rendering this episode when the news broke NASA finally made the call and deemed the Boeing spacecraft unsafe to fly the two astronauts will indeed be hitching a ride back with the SpaceX Drgon spacecraft scheduled for takeoff on September 24th and they'll be returning in February 2025 the dragon capsu has room for four but two of those seats will be empty and that's in order to accommodate the two stranded astronauts meanwhile the stricken Boeing Starliner will return turned back to Earth unmanned it seemed that NASA had little confidence in Boeing because the decision was unanimous on the decision Steve Stitch the manager of NASA's commercial crew program would State quote there was just too much uncertainty in the prediction of the thrusters the decision to use space X instead of Boeing brings to an end many weeks of uncertainty for the astronauts but unfortunately they're still going to be stuck in space for 8 months longer than planned and now automatically the question floods our mind how are they going to survive up there what will they eat what will they do are they going to go insane for those familiar with space travel or have watched a movie or two on the topic you'd know that astronauts are trained specifically for scenarios like this they go through rigorous training a strict diet regimen and various psychological tests to help them survive situations like this but even then prolonged stays in space pose significant physical and psychological challenges just take a second to imagine the situation you're in space in an enclosed craft with the same routine you haven't seen your friends or your family in weeks and you don't know when you're going to return it sucks but in terms of oxygen supply the ISS is equipped with advanced technology and systems that recycles water from urine sweat and moisture and then generates oxygen through electrolysis food is resupplied via cargo missions regularly so that should take care of the Essentials as a side note the International Space Station has multiple docking capabilities and according to Nessa eight spaceships can be connected to the space station at once it's also known that extended time in microgravity can lead to muscle atrophy bone density loss cardiovascular changes and much more to mitigate that astronauts are told to keep their recommended intake of food and water and exercise at least 2.

5 hours per day to prevent muscle and bone loss but what about their mental health the recommendation is to maintain a daily work routine stick to a schedule for Sleep exercise as needed and perhaps most importantly keep in touch with people from Earth you can actually make a phone call directly to people on Earth using radio signals and they also have Wi-Fi on the space station but keep in mind that connection is relatively slow and doesn't quite operate the same way as it does on Earth luckily there are other workers present in the ISS so the two astronauts would be completely alone by themselves the entire time there's really going to be a lot of finger wagging at Boeing the Starliner was 7 years late and $1. 5 billion over budget whether it's just bad luck or yet another case of deep rooted incompetence remains to be seen but some of the executives within NASA's boardroom would be raising a few eyebrows at this event space X is routinely flying crude missions to the ISS using its Drgon spacecraft so when you compare them and Boeing it's not a good look launching objects into space is pretty complicated stuff but have you ever wondered what the mechanics are behind such a feat well fortunately there's a fun and easy way to learn about that with brilliant. org brilliant is where you learn by doing with thousands of interactive lessons and maths science data analytics programming and AI they have a course by real engineering which covers rocket physics orbital mechanics and much more each lesson on brilliant allows you to play with Concepts a method proven to be six times more effective than what watching lecture videos plus all content on brilliant is crafted by teachers researchers and professionals from MIT cowtech Duke Microsoft Google and more learn at your own pace to brush up on a project for work or just for your own self-development and curiosity to try everything brilliant has to offer for a full 30 days visit brilliant.