NASA Clarifies Mysterious Pulsing Noise from Boeing’s Spaceship

• Astronaut Butch Wilmore first reported a mysterious noise on Saturday.
• NASA stated the pulsing sound was due to speaker feedback.
• This incident is part of an ongoing saga that has kept two astronauts in space since June.

Nasa astronaut Butch Wilmore alerted Mission Control on Saturday about a heavy, pulsing noise emanating from the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

“There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker,” Wilmore reported. “I don’t know what’s making it,” he added later.

This exchange was shared online by a member of a NASA Space Flight forum and subsequently noticed by Ars Technica.

Wilmore, along with astronaut Suni Williams, launched aboard the Boeing Starliner in June, with plans to return to Earth after approximately a week. However, their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has extended over two months due to complications.

During the flight, the Starliner spacecraft encountered a malfunction. Five of its 28 Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters unexpectedly shut down, and there were leaks in the helium supply, which is crucial for pressurizing its propulsion system. Nonetheless, the peculiar noises Wilmore reported were not linked to these malfunctions.

On Monday, NASA confirmed that the unsettling sound was simply a result of a feedback issue occurring between the speakers of the Starliner and the ISS where it is currently docked.

“The space station audio system is intricate, permitting multiple spacecraft and modules to interact. It’s not uncommon to encounter noise and feedback,” NASA stated on X.

The agency reassured that this noise will not influence the crew currently onboard.

This eerie audio incident followed closely on the heels of NASA finally disclosing the return date for the Boeing Starliner. After an extended stay in space, the Starliner is scheduled to return to New Mexico on September 7, but without its crew.

In a mission update released on Thursday, NASA indicated that the “uncrewed Starliner spacecraft will execute a fully autonomous return, under the oversight of flight controllers at Starliner Mission Control in Houston and the Boeing Mission Control Center in Florida.”

This announcement came shortly after NASA determined that the spacecraft was not suitable for the safe return of astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.

As a result, their return has been rescheduled for February 2025, utilizing the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson elaborated on the decision to return the Starliner uncrewed during a press conference at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, emphasizing that the choice was driven by a “commitment to safety.”

Source: Business Insider