Boeing’s Starliner capsule is seen approaching the International Space Station with two NASA astronauts on board on June 6, 2024.
NASA Television
Fixing a drive problem
NASA flight controllers canceled a previously planned approach to fix problems with the Starliner’s propulsion system. Starliner has 28 jets, known as RCS engines, that assist the spacecraft make diminutive movements in orbit.
The Starliner crew, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, were informed by NASA’s capsule communicator, or CAPCOM, Neal Nagata that the 12:15 docking attempt had to be canceled to resolve a problem with the spacecraft’s propulsion. CAPCOM Nagata noted that the ISS has zero error tolerance for spacecraft control problems.
The agency and Boeing had to resolve a problem with five inoperable RCS jets. Four of the disabled Starliner jets were recovered after Wilmore and Williams worked with flight controllers to test the operation of the jet engines.
CAPCOM Nagata told astronauts to keep the spacecraft outside the “forbidden zone,” an undetectable boundary around the ISS that serves as a safety measure, while diagnosing problematic thrusters.