The first crewed voyage of Boeing’s Starliner was supposed to last around a week, but the high-stakes mission is still in limbo eight weeks after launch.

Their high-stakes mission was supposed to last about a week — but 56 days later, two NASA astronauts are still aboard the International Space Station, waiting as teams on the ground try to figure out how to bring them home safely in the Boeing spaceship they rode to orbit.

The beleaguered Starliner capsule has two problems: its propulsion system is leaking helium and five of its thrusters malfunctioned as it was docking with the space station. Mission managers were aware of the leaks before the vehicle lifted off but had said they were unlikely to affect the flight or the astronauts’ safety.

  • bdonvrA
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    5 months ago

    I feel like if I were an astronaut I’d be thrilled to have my ISS stay extended lmao

    • Skullgrid@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Bruh, if your ass went to Jamaica (or other scenic location) and your return flight got delated indefinately, you wouldn’t be a fan

      • ashok36@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        If my job paid for me to go to Jamaica and had to keep paying me the entire time I was stuck there, that would soften the annoyance quite a lot.

        • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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          5 months ago

          We almost got stuck at a five star hotel on a work trip in Mexico at the start of Covid. Instead we got a private plane back due to panic setting in. Was pissed.

      • bdonvrA
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        5 months ago

        If I were getting paid all the while fuck yeah I would be

      • toast@retrolemmy.com
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        5 months ago

        Yeah. I was in Hawaii when 9/11 happened, and of course all flights at the time were canceled for days. It wasn’t a bad place to be stuck for a little while, but even that short of a delay in returning did cause a few issues.