@dw.science: NASA announced that the 'strange noise' astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams heard during their June flight aboard Boeing’s Starliner to the ISS was just feedback from the speakers. And btw, Butch and Suni are NOT stuck in space. Their mission has been extended into the next year, but they always knew something like this could happen. After all, that’s what test flights are for. On June 6, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida aboard Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft. Their mission was to take the spacecraft for a test flight to the International Space Station and back again. The whole thing was supposed to take around a week. Now their stay onboard the ISS has been extended to eight months. The reason is that several technical malfunctions in the Starliner's thrusters and some helium leaks made the return too risky for the astronauts. That’s why the Starliner is heading back to Earth without its crew in September, while Butch and Suni will hitch a ride home with Boeng rival SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission in February 2025. Author: Esteban Pardo #dwscience #dwhealth #scienceontiktok #STEMTok #sciencetok #LearnOnTikTok #nasa #starliner #astronauts #ISS #boeing #SpaceX
