Sunita Williams And Butch Willmore Could 'Vaporise To Death' On Re-Entry (image-X/NASA)

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams (pilot) and Butch Wilmore (commander) docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on June 5 as part of Boeing Starliner’s maiden space mission. The plan was to stay for eight days. The US astronauts have been “stranded” in space for over two months now.

Following a malfunction in the capsule’s thrusters, they have been forced to remain docked indefinitely. Some reports suggested that both Williams and Wilmore could end up being stuck in space until 2025. Notably, the Starliner experienced several difficulties before the mission to the ISS.

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According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S. Somanath, some of the detected anomalies include helium gas leaks and malfunctioning thrusters.

Former US military Space System Commander Rudy Ridolfi laid out three catastrophic scenarios that could potentially play out if the astronauts try to make a journey back to Earth in the faulty spacecraft.

Scenario One: The Starliner could remain stuck in space with oxygen supply lasting only 96 hours. This is likely to occur if the Boeing Starliner attempts to re-enter Earth at the wrong angle, which will lead to the capsule bouncing off the atmosphere.

Scenario Two: The spacecraft may fail to even re-enter the atmosphere of Earth because of its faulty alignment, which will lead to the same outcome as above: stuck in space.

Scenario Three: The final and perhaps worst-case possibility is that upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere at too steep an angle, the spacecraft’s heat shield might fall and the Starliner could burn up due to excessive friction. The two astronauts could vaporise to death in such a case.

Currently, NASA is weighing its options to determine whether to proceed with the return mission of the Boeing Starliner or to launch a rescue mission using SpaceX.

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To make a safe reentry, the spacecraft’s service module must align the capsule at the correct angle, said Ridolfi.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said on August 15, “We are reaching a point where that last week in August we really should be making a call, if not sooner.”