Rescued astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore reveal failures on the Boeing Starliner were far dire than originally reported

Rescued US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore revealed that malfunctions on the Boeing Starliner were far dire than originally reported as the latter described the stomach-dropping moment they lost all control of the capsule.Wilmore gave a near minute-by-minute retelling of what went through his mind when four thrusters on the Boeing-made spacecraft failed while he and Williams were attempting to dock at the International Space Station.

The near-catastrophic crisis caused Wilmore to lose full control of the plagued capsule, leaving the seasoned astronauts floating in the vast void of space until NASA’s mission control came to their rescue.“I don’t know that we can come back to Earth at that point,” Wilmore, 62, recalled in an interview with Ars Technica.Wilmore explained that flight regulations typically call for malfunctioned ships to abort docking – even within close range to the ISS – and return to Earth.But NASA waived that mandate, he said. Panic eventually began to set in as the pair attempted to direct the defective ship toward the ISS. “So there we are, loss of 6DOF control, four aft thrusters down, and I’m visualizing orbital mechanics,” Wilmore explained.“The space station is nose down.

So we’re not exactly level with the station, but below it.If you’re below the station, you’re moving faster.

That’s orbital mechanics.It’s going to make you move away from the station,” he continued.“So I’m doing all of this in my mind.

I don’t know what control I have.What if I lose another thruster? What if we lose comm? What am I going to do?”The space explorer said he had shared concerns about the capsule’s thrusters – which are essential for docking – with Boeing in the months prior to takeoff after an uncrewed flight test to the space station experienced similar malfunctions.Mission control eventually instructed Wilmore to relinquish all remaining control of the capsule to allow NASA to reset the thrusters �...