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 Decisão da NASA sobre a Starliner da Boeing infographic
A infografia mostra os problemas que enfrenta a cápsula Starliner.
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ESPAÇO

Astronautas aguardam regresso à Terra

By Duncan Mil

August 12, 2024 - A NASA vai decidir em meados de agosto como e quando trazer dois astronautas – Sunita Williams e Barry Wilmore – de volta da Estação Espacial Internacional, possivelmente com uma boleia da cápsula SpaceX, depois de atrasar repetidamente o regresso a bordo da Starliner da Boeing.

Navy veterans Wilmore and Williams flew to the ISS on June 5 on Boeing’s Starliner, the craft’s first crewed launch. They are still on the station, waiting for NASA to figure out how to get them back to Earth.

“We don’t just have to bring a crew back on Starliner, for example. We could bring them back on another vehicle,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said during a press conference on Wednesday (August 7).

Boeing’s Starliner capsule has had several issues. Its original launch date was pushed back twice -- once because of a problem with an oxygen valve.

Once in space, NASA discovered four helium leaks and five malfunctioning thrusters. NASA and Boeing have said the Starliner capsule is safe to travel in, but the exact issue behind its troubles is yet to be determined, and Wilmore and Williams remain on the ISS.

If NASA chooses SpaceX’s Dragon option, only two of the four astronauts set for the launch will go, leaving two seats to ferry Wilmore and Williams back to Earth in February 2025.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 12/08/2024; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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