NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore has reported hearing unusual noises coming from Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft, leaving him and his colleague Sunita Williams stranded in space for eight months instead of returning home after their planned week-long mission in June.
Wilmore contacted NASA mission control to report a strange pulsating sound coming from the Starliner spacecraft, which is currently docked with the International Space Station (ISS).
He named that the source of the sound, heard over the station’s loudspeaker, was unclear and requested assistance in identifying it. Mission controllers asked Wilmore to hold the microphone up to the speaker so they could analyze the sound.
After listening, they noticed that the pulsating sound resembled a sonar signal.
Investigations into the source of the noise are still ongoing, but initial theories suggest it could be caused by a feedback loop between the ISS and the Starliner spacecraft.
Strange sounds in space are not unheard; astronauts have repeatedly reported similar experiences in the past.
The Starliner has suffered persistent problems with its propulsion system since arriving at the ISS on June 6. Because of these problems, NASA made the crucial decision in late August to return the spacecraft to Earth on September 6 without Wilmore and Williams.
The two NASA astronauts are expected to remain on the ISS until about February next year, when they will return home aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
