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No return date for stranded astronauts after Boeing Starliner woes – but UK’s newest cadet calls the wait ‘bonus time’
The average career astronaut flies to space just three to four times
THE astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) due to issues with Boeing's Starliner capsule are still not able to return home, Nasa has said.
But the UK's newest astronaut, Rosemary Coogan, told The Sun that the waiting game is "bonus time" in space.
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Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams flew to the space station on the first crewed flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule, nearly 50 days ago.
The $1.5billion spacecraft was marred by setbacks before and after the launch, such as issues with the oxygen valve and helium leaks.
Since then, engineers have delayed Wilmore and Williams' return home, as they fix issues on Starliner.
Nasa’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said the space agency was not ready to announce a return date.
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“We’ll come home when we’re ready,” said Stich, adding that the goal is to bring Wilmore and Williams back aboard Starliner.
The pair were supposed to visit the ISS for roughly a week, however, issues with Boeing's Starliner have kept them there longer.
'Bonus time'
The average career astronaut flies to space just three to four times.
While some only fly once or twice - others can go their entire careers without ever being assigned a space-based mission.
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With both Wilmore and Williams are currently on their third mission, Coogan, it may well be their last.
Boeing's Starliner blasts off on first crewed flight into orbit
"There's always things to be done on the space station," Coogan said, in an exclusive interview at Farnborough International Airshow.
"I mean, during a six-month mission, you'll be involved in literally hundreds and hundreds of experiments."
I think it's fantastic actually to have that bonus time, as it were, to get that science and communications done.
Rosemary Coogan, European Space Agency astronaut
Alongside the science, there's the maintenance of the station itself, as well as outreach and public relations programmes that astronauts engage in.
"There's primary tasks and then there's the secondary tasks that can be done if anyone ever has a spare pair of hands," Coogan explained.
"I have absolutely no doubt that people are keeping very, very busy and I think it's fantastic actually to have that bonus time, as it were, to get that science and communications done."
Coogan, from Belfast, was selected as an ESA astronaut candidate from a sea of over 22,500 applicants in 2022.
It will take Coogan around two more years to train up for her own specific mission to the ISS, which would likely occur after 2026.
'No danger'
Just days ago, fellow British astronaut Tim Peake told Sky News that astronauts Wilmore and Williams were in "no danger".
Nasa had initially said that the Starliner spacecraft would be safe for a 45 day stay.
Now Wilmore and Williams' stay has exceed that time, the space agency has added that it is possible stay for double that time.
Every astronaut has to consider the risks involved in human space flight. It's something we do and go through as individuals to be comfortable with.
Tim Peake
"I know Butch and Suni very well," he added.
"The ISS is a fantastic hub with plenty of food and resources.
"The crew are completely safe and I know the agencies are working on a return option for them.
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"Every astronaut has to consider the risks involved in human space flight.
"It's something we do and go through as individuals to be comfortable with."
Nasa's race to replace the ISS
The ISS is getting old.
And by the end of the decade, it will need to be pulled from orbit to meet its watery grave in the ocean.
Fortunately, Nasa has been preparing for this for some time.
In December 2021, the US space agency announced it was awarding a total of $415million (£326million) to three different companies — Blue Origin, Nanoracks (plus Voyager Space) and Northrop Grumman — to help cement their commercial space station concepts.
NASA also has a separate agreement with Texas-based Axiom Space, which is working on its own private outpost as well as a new series of spacesuits.
While Voyager has officially mapped out how it's going to get Starlab into orbit - Blue Origin, in collaboration with Sierra Space, is in test mode for its own outpost.
In September, Blue Origin's ISS replacement exploded in a fifth intentionally destructive test.
The test was designed to tech both companies how to build a space station that won't fatally explode in orbit.
Northtop Grumman had initially had its own plans for a space station when Nasa funded it.
However, the company dropped its idea in October, to assist Voyager Space with Starlab instead.
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