Stranded Boeing Starliner astronauts report strange sounds from space

One of the marooned astronauts on the Boeing Starliner has contacted NASA to report an ominous sound coming from the spaceship. Listen to the audio.

In space no one can hear you scream.

But you may be able to hear things - strange noises.

The astronauts stranded in space for months on end in their faulty Boeing Starliner aircraft have reported eerie sounds emanating from the spaceship.

One of the astronauts stuck aboard the International Space Station sent NASA audio of the ominous sound, according to Ars Technica.

Marooned test pilot Butch Wilmore contacted NASA to report an eerie sound in the spaceship. Picture: Supplied

Butch Wilmore (R) and Suni Williams before they departed on their voyage that was meant to last a week. They are stranded and will not return to Earth until February. Picture: AFP

In the recording, Butch Wilmore can be heard communicating with Johnson Space Center in Houston telling mission control, “I’ve got a question about Starliner. There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker ... I don’t know what’s making it.”

NASA has since released a statement hoping to clarify that Houston does not have a problem: “A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped.

The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner.”

The statement continued, “The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback. The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system.”

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA's Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station. Picture: NASA

The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6.”

NASA officials at a press conference to discuss plans to return two astronauts who remain stranded at the International Space Station. Picture: AFP

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams blasted off for the ISS on the Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024, and will now hopefully return home with rival SpaceX, since the Boeing craft is incapable of making the voyage.

“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 next February, and that Starliner will return uncrewed," Nelson told reporters.

The return has been delayed by thruster malfunctions of the Boeing spacecraft.”

SPACEX DELAYED AGAIN

Meanwhile, SpaceX again postponed its attempt at launching a daring orbital expedition featuring an all-civilian crew that is aiming to carry out the first-ever space walk by private citizens.

The Polaris Dawn mission, organised by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, was to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a four-hour window last Wednesday.

But SpaceX said it pushed back the launch plans “due to unfavourable weather forecasted in Dragon’s splashdown areas off the coast of Florida,” in a message on X.

Isaacman later added on X that, because the spaceship won’t rendezvous with the International Space Station and has limited consumables on board, it was particularly constrained by the forecast during the splashdown window.

An earlier attempt to launch Polaris Dawn was scrapped due to a helium leak on a line connecting the tower to the rocket.

BLUE ORIGIN SENDS YOUNGEST WOMAN INTO SPACE

It comes as the past week has been a mixed bag in commercial space travel.

Blue Origin flew its latest group of six thrillseekers to the edge of space and back again last week, including the youngest-ever woman to complete the feat - Karsen Kitchen, 21.

Mission NS-26 marked the eighth human spaceflight for the company, founded by Jeff Bezos, as it presses ahead in the emerging suborbital tourism market.

Blue Origin’s small New Shepard rocket blasted off from the company’s Launch Site One base in west Texas.

As the spaceship soared beyond the Karman Line, passengers had the chance to marvel at the Earth’s curvature and unbuckle their seatbelts to float during a few minutes of weightlessness.

The capsule then re-entered the atmosphere, deploying its parachutes for a desert landing near the launch site. The total flight time is typically around 10 to 11 minutes.

Blue Origin’s main competitor in the suborbital space market, Virgin Galactic, is currently on a two-year pause from commercial operations as it upgrades its fleet.

- With AFP