The NASA and Boeing leadership are consumed in adjusting the return of the Starliner Crew Flight Test spacecraft with agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams (Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore) from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth.

The return of both astronauts was postponed by NASA again to allow more time to review ‘technical issues’ according to the space agency.

“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking,” he added.

Earlier, the spacecraft’s return was set for June 26. Before that, the first potential date was June 14, as per reports. This time’s postponement was the fourth of its kind.

However, the crew is not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station’s schedule is relatively open through mid-August, assured NASA.

Approximately 21 years ago, Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla tragically became a victim of an accident during a space mission. In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

Since then, NASA has been vigilant to prevent such accidents again, particularly for other Indian-origin astronauts like Sunita Williams, who had to abort their return to Earth three times.

Notably, on June 5, Williams and Wilmore set off on Starliner’s first-ever crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

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