NASA Astronaut Reports ‘Strange Sound’ Coming From Troubled Boeing Starliner

Science

NASA’s Mission Control is investigating a mysterious sound coming from inside Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft after one of the two astronauts stranded in space due to issues with the spacecraft reported it.

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore radioed Mission Control in Houston on Saturday to flag the sounds that he said were coming from a speaker inside the Starliner space capsule, Ars Technica first reported.

“I’ve got a question about Starliner,” Wilmore says in a recording of his call, published by meteorologist Rob Dale. “There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker. … I don’t know what’s making it.”

Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams have been struck in space since June. The two were scheduled to stay in space for roughly a week but won't return to Earth until February due to a series of issues with Boeing’s spacecraft, NASA said. — Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams have been struck in space since June. The two were scheduled to stay in space for roughly a week but won’t return to Earth until February due to a series of issues with Boeing’s spacecraft, NASA said.

Wilmore was able to hold up his microphone toward the source of the sound, allowing Mission Control to hear it, too.

“It was kind of like a pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping,” Mission Control said.

Wilmore allowed Mission Control to hear the sound again, and then asked them to “call us if you figure it out.”

A NASA representative did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on Monday, but blamed the noise on the audio configuration between Starliner and the Space Station in a statement to a space-focused news outlet.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, seen docked with the International Space Station on June 13, is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday without passengers. — Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, seen docked with the International Space Station on June 13, is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday without passengers.

“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback,” read the statement obtained by the website NASA Space Flight. It added that the noise has “no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations,” including Starliner’s planned return to Earth on Friday.

Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams have been stuck in orbit since June, vastly extending what was supposed to be a one-week mission after their Boeing spacecraft was deemed likely unsafe for travel.

The spacecraft, which has experienced helium leaks and failed thrusters, will return without passengers, and Wilmore and Williams will hitch a ride back to Earth on a Space X capsule sometime in February, NASA said.