A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Tomorrow, the troubled Starliner spacecraft built by Boeing will try to return to Earth without the two astronauts who took it on a test flight. They're going to stay aboard the International Space Station, where they've been listening to some strange noises. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce reports.
NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: The noises were coming from Starliner, which is docked to the station. Astronaut Butch Wilmore notified mission control.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BUTCH WILMORE: Houston on two. We've got a question about Starliner.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Houston's with you, Butch. Go ahead.
WILMORE: There's a strange noise coming through the speaker.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Wilmore held the microphone up to Starliner's speaker, so Houston could hear it, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF STARLINER SPACECRAFT)
GREENFIELDBOYCE: This audio quickly got shared all over social media. NASA had to put out a statement this week saying it wasn't a problem. It was just the latest indignity for Starliner. This was its first flight with a crew onboard, and some of its thrusters unexpectedly stopped firing as it was approaching the station. It did dock, but NASA officials decided that they didn't understand these dodgy thrusters well enough to risk sending astronauts home in it. Steve Stich manages NASA's Commercial Crew Program. He says once Starliner automatically undocks, it should move away from the station quickly.
STEVE STICH: After we get the vehicle back, we'll go through a couple months of post-flight analysis of the trajectory and how the thrusters performed during the final phase of flight. And then we're also already working hand in hand with Boeing to look at modifications to the system.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, meanwhile, will eventually get home. Their ride is a SpaceX vehicle that's going up to the station soon, though its return flight won't happen until February. In case an emergency forces an evacuation of the station before it arrives, the station's crew has jerry-rigged a couple of extra seats in a SpaceX capsule that's docked there now.
Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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