The crew that travelled aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) are settling in as technical concerns hinder their return to Earth.
Originally launched for about a week-long mission on June 5, the Starliner's journey back has been repeatedly postponed due to helium leaks and thruster issues.
Nasa astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who arrived there aboard Starliner, are helping other crew members with their daily tasks, while they wait for a return date to be set.
Boeing is insisting that the delays are because it wants to carry out extensive checks on the craft’s technical issues while it is docked at the station, as the service module will be discarded upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
But that has not stopped headlines around the world suggesting that “astronauts are stuck in space”, as the company and Nasa have not provided a firm return date, leaving the situation open to speculation.
Prepared for longer stay
Michael Flachbart, former vice president of global space camp operations at the US Space and Rocket Center, said the astronauts can return “anytime” but Nasa and Boeing are taking advantage of staying in orbit to understand the technical issues to make future, long-term missions possible.
“The crew and Nasa were always prepared for a longer mission in case of any number of scenarios,” said Mr Flachbart, who is now a strategic business consultant for companies that host space education programmes, including for Dubai-based Compass International's Space and Rocketery Academy.
“Therefore, food and supplies are not an issue. The Starliner is almost completely powered down while docked and is powered (batteries recharging) by the ISS while docked.”
The company carried out a hot fire test on Starliner last month that helped most of the thrusters become functional again.
Now it is carrying out ground tests in New Mexico, in which it would be replicating thruster issues the craft had inside a vacuum chamber to learn more about the problem.
Mark Nappi, vice president and programme manager of the Commercial Crew Programme for Boeing, had said in a media briefing on June 28 that they could run one more hot fire test.
“So if (the test in New Mexico) comes back and gives us all the answers, then we can just undock and come home,” he said.
“If it comes back and says, ‘here’s 80 per cent of the answer. And if you just run one more docked hot fire, then you can get 100 per cent of the answers – then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can get that information.”
Unknown date of return
Nasa said yesterday that once the ground testing and data analysis are complete, the agency and Boeing will carry out a review before a return date is set, with an update on the situation to be provided on Wednesday during a media briefing. It is not clear whether a date will be announced.
The Starliner launch was meant to help Boeing rebuilt its reputation, which was impacted by two crashes involving 737 Max 8 jets and a mid-flight door panel blowout on a 737 Max 9 jet earlier this year.
It has a $4.2 billion contract under Nasa's Commercial Crew Programme to help safely launch and bring back astronauts for the agency.
However, the development of Starliner has been plagued with delays because of various technical issues over the past decade.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk's SpaceX, which is also part of Nasa's Commercial Crew Programme, has already launched eight crews for the agency.
“Part of the fault at the very beginning was due to the lack of clarity provided by Boeing and Nasa but they themselves were trying to first understand the issue fully before reporting back to the press,” said Mr Flachbart.
“Boeing's other issues involving its aviation business has also contributed to the media's negative coverage of Boeing in general.
“Therefore, Boeing Space and Starliner has suffered during this period from a lot more negative press than it deserves.
“The overall delays to this first Starliner crewed mission have also impacted the media's coverage.”
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
Company Profile
Company name: Yeepeey
Started: Soft launch in November, 2020
Founders: Sagar Chandiramani, Jatin Sharma and Monish Chandiramani
Based: Dubai
Industry: E-grocery
Initial investment: $150,000
Future plan: Raise $1.5m and enter Saudi Arabia next year
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
What is an FTO Designation?
FTO designations impose immigration restrictions on members of the organisation simply by virtue of their membership and triggers a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organisation as well as asset freezes.
It is a crime for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to or receive military-type training from or on behalf of a designated FTO.
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances removable from, the United States.
Except as authorised by the Secretary of the Treasury, any US financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which an FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Treasury Department.
Source: US Department of State
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
In numbers
- Number of children under five will fall from 681 million in 2017 to 401m in 2100
- Over-80s will rise from 141m in 2017 to 866m in 2100
- Nigeria will become the world’s second most populous country with 791m by 2100, behind India
- China will fall dramatically from a peak of 2.4 billion in 2024 to 732 million by 2100
- an average of 2.1 children per woman is required to sustain population growth
The specs: 2017 Lotus Evora Sport 410
Price, base / as tested Dh395,000 / Dh420,000
Engine 3.5L V6
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 410hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 420Nm @ 3,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined 9.7L / 100km
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