Why NASA astronauts are delayed at the space station after Boeing Starliner launch

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have now spent three weeks in space as NASA and Boeing troubleshoot equipment problems that popped up on the way there.Three potential landing dates were called off and their flight home is now on hold.

The long-delayed test flight is the first with astronauts aboard. Boeing will eventually join SpaceX in ferrying crews to and from the space station for NASA.NASA wants more time to analyze problems in the spacecraft's propulsion system, which is used to maneuver in flight. The propulsion system is attached to the capsule, but it doesn’t come back to Earth for inspection. It is ditched during reentry and burns up.

The space agency also said it didn't want the departure to conflict with spacewalks. This week's spacewalk was called off after water leaked from an astronaut’s spacesuit while she was still inside the orbiting lab. Tuesday's spacewalk was still on the schedule.Five of the capsule’s 28 thrusters went down during docking, as the capsule closed in on the space station. All but one thruster was restarted, and they worked during a later test firing, NASA said.

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