WASHINGTON: A pair of US astronauts stuck waiting to leave the International Space Station said Wednesday they were confident that the problem-plagued Boeing Starliner they rode up on would soon bring them home, even as significant uncertainties remain.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 aboard the brand new spaceship that NASA is hoping to certify to ferry crews to-and-from the orbital outpost.
They docked the following day for what was meant to be roughly a week-long stay, but their return was pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey.
No date has been set for the return, but NASA officials said Wednesday they were eying “late July.”
Asked during a live press call from the station whether they still had faith in the Starliner team and the spaceship, mission commander Wilmore replied: “We’re absolutely confident.”
“I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem,” added Williams.
She said they were continuing to enjoy their time aboard the ISS, performing tasks like changing out the pump on a machine that processes urine back into drinking water, and carrying out science experiments such as gene sequencing in the microgravity environment.
They have also tested Starliner as a “safe haven” vehicle in case of problems aboard the ISS, and checked out how its life support performs when four people are inside.
Before Wilmore and Williams can come home, however, engineering teams need to run more simulations of similar thrusters and helium seals on the ground, to better understand the root causes of some of the technical issues Starliner experienced — and modify the way it will fly down, if necessary.
It was known there was one helium leak affecting the spaceship before the launch, but more leaks emerged during the flight. Helium, while non-combustible, provides pressure to the propulsion system.
What’s more, some of Starliner’s thrusters that provide fine maneuvering initially failed to kick in during its approach to the station, delaying docking.
Engineers are not sure why the craft’s computer “deselected” these thrusters, though they were able to restart all but one of them.
In a subsequent press call, Boeing executive Mark Nappi told reporters that the “working theory” for the thruster malfunction was overheating due to excessive firing.
Theories on the cause of the helium leaks ranged from debris entering the propulsion system to Boeing possibly installing seals that were undersized for the task.
NASA and Boeing insist Starliner could fly home in case of an emergency, particularly since the problems affected only certain thrusters that control orientation.
They have no concerns over any of the more powerful thrusters responsible for the “deorbit burn” that will bring the spaceship back.
But much remains unclear — including whether the orientation control thrusters that malfunctioned have become degraded, which would make it necessary to rely on other thrusters during descent, NASA official Steve Stich said.
He insisted that NASA wasn’t yet considering bringing Williams and Wilmore back on a SpaceX Crew Dragon, in what would amount to a major humiliation for the aerospace giant Boeing, whose reputation has taken a hit in recent years over the safety crisis affecting its commercial jets.
“The prime option today is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” said Stich, while conceding that a return flight on a SpaceX spaceship can’t be ruled out.
In 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts by NASA to develop crewed spaceships after the retirement of the Space Shuttle program. SpaceX carried out a successful crewed test in 2020 and has flown dozens of people since.
Astronauts stuck on space station ‘confident’ Boeing Starliner will bring them home
https://arab.news/v9zcp
Astronauts stuck on space station ‘confident’ Boeing Starliner will bring them home
- Their return was pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey
- In 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts by NASA to develop crewed spaceships
Ukraine sees improving energy situation
State-run electricity operator Ukrenergo said July 30 was the first day of the month with no power cuts
KYIV: Ukrainian officials on Tuesday pointed to a much improved situation in the energy industry following waves of relentless Russian attacks that caused major power cuts across the country.
Several regions have faced regular blackouts and forced energy rationing since Russia invaded in February 2022, as Moscow has targeted missile and drone strikes at the war-torn country’s power stations.
“Due to the early completion of repairs at two units of nuclear power plants and a drop in air temperature, the situation in the energy sector has stabilized,” Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Tuesday.
State-run electricity operator Ukrenergo said July 30 was the first day of the month with no power cuts.
“If there is no more shelling, it will be possible to manage with minimal restrictions or no power outages at all in the next three months,” said Yuriy Boyko, an adviser to Shmygal who sits on Ukrenergo’s supervisory board.
Ukraine has relied on electricity imports from its neighboring EU countries to fill a gap in generation caused by the Russian attacks.
It has also introduced rolling regional blackouts and asked businesses and consumers to limit consumption at peak hours.
Shmygal said Ukraine was continuing “to prepare for the autumn and winter period and develop alternative generation sources.”
US announces $500m military funding for Philippines amid South China Sea tensions
- Funding boost comes after several maritime confrontations between China and Philippines
MANILA: The US announced on Tuesday $500 million in military funding to modernize the Philippine armed forces as the allies agreed to deepen defense cooperation amid continued tensions with Beijing in the disputed South China Sea.
The funding was announced after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met in Manila with their Philippine counterparts, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
“We’re now allocating an additional $500 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines to boost security collaboration with our oldest treaty ally in this region — new steps to strengthen the alliance, a once-in-a-generation investment to help modernize the Filipino Armed Forces and Coast Guard,” Blinken told reporters.
The US’ commitment to boosting its defense aid for the Philippines comes after a string of maritime confrontations between Chinese coast guard ships and Philippine vessels in the strategic waters that Beijing claims as its own.
“Both of us share concerns, and many other countries in the region share concerns as well, about some of the actions that People’s Republic of China has taken, escalatory actions in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and elsewhere.”
Last month, the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Philippine naval vessels during their resupply mission on the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the contested waters that has become a central flash point between the two countries.
The US and the Philippines have a defense treaty and Washington has repeatedly warned that a Chinese attack on Filipino ships could trigger an American military response.
“This level of funding is unprecedented and it sends a clear message of support for the Philippines from the (Joe) Biden-(Kamala) Harris administration, the US Congress and the American people,” Austin said.
“During our meeting, we also reaffirmed that the mutual defense treaty remains the bedrock of our alliance. And let me be clear, the mutual defense treaty applies to armed attacks on either of our armed forces, aircraft or public vessels anywhere in the South China Sea.”
Manila and Beijing have overlapping claims in the resource-rich waterway, where the bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.
China has increased military activity in the area over the past few years, with the country’s Coast Guard regularly encroaching on the Philippine part of the waters. This is despite a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague dismissing Beijing’s expansive claims.
On Tuesday, the Philippines and the US also agreed to strengthen cooperation in cybersecurity and other areas, seeking to make the Southeast Asian nation more resilient against external threats.
“Every peso or dollar spent on hardening the Philippines’ capabilities to defend itself and to deter unlawful aggression will be a plus against any threat actor, whether it be China or anyone,” Teodoro said. He added that the new funding will also boost the Philippines’ humanitarian assistance and disaster response capabilities.
“So these are not mono-dimensional but multidimensional investments that will help in the development of the country and help to deter unwanted and unlawful aggression by building a credible deterrent posture.”
Don McLain Gill, an international studies lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, said the US defense aid was “of great importance” for both countries.
“The $500 million military funding is in fact important for the Philippines at a time when it seeks to operationalize its comprehensive archipelagic defense concept, which has been implemented by the military and to steer, you know, the Philippine … military modernization program towards a more robust capacity to defend Philippine waters,” he told Arab News.
“This is a welcome initiative and an important development within the US-Philippines alliance, and the role of the US as a capacity builder and security provider.”
Rescuers scramble to find survivors after dozens killed in Kerala landslides
- State government declares two-day mourning for disaster victims
- At least 84 people feared dead, over 100 remain missing
NEW DELHI: A massive rescue operation was underway in the southern Indian state of Kerala on Tuesday following landslides that have killed dozens of people in the hilly district of Wayanad.
The landslides struck in the early hours of the morning when people were asleep as waves of mud crushed their homes.
Teams from civil defense, police, 200 personnel of the army, and rescue swimmers from the navy have been deployed to the affected areas, but search efforts were hampered by heavy rains.
The Kerala Revenue Ministry estimated that at least 84 people were dead and 116 injured, but the Wayanad District Disaster Response Force told Arab News it was difficult to ascertain the exact numbers, as more than 120 were missing, trapped under mud and debris.
“We fear that the death figure will go up as many missing might be dead. As of now, we can’t speculate,” the disaster response force office told Arab News. “Rescue operation is going on in full swing.”
Most of Kerala was on the India Meteorological Department’s highest alert due to extreme rainfall on Tuesday morning.
Jebi Mather, member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament representing Kerala, told lawmakers that reports from the state indicate that entire families had disappeared under the mud.
“The devastation cannot be measured at this moment … It is so vast,” she said.
Some 350 families lived in the hilly forest region, where most residents worked on tea and cardamom plantations.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, the former MP for Wayanad, said in a post on X that he was “deeply anguished” by the disaster.
“The devastation unfolding in Wayanad is heartbreaking,” he said. “I have urged the Union government … to extend all possible support.”
The Kerala government declared official mourning on Tuesday and Wednesday.
MPs urge UK to not allow Israel-bound US fuel tanker to dock at Gibraltar
- Overseas Santorini already faced opposition over docking in Spain
- MPs say vessel carrying military-grade jet fuel to be used for F-16 fighter aircraft in Gaza
LONDON: A group of MPs has urged UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to intervene and stop a US oil tanker carrying fuel to Israel from docking in Gibraltar.
The 300,000 barrels of jet fuel aboard, believed to be military-grade JP-8 fuel, are expected to be used by the Israeli military to power F-16 fighter jets used in the war on Gaza.
Protests in Spain have already seen the owners of the ship, Overseas Santorini, decide not to dock at the Spanish port of Algeciras.
In the past shipments of fuel, sent from Corpus Christi in Texas to Ashkelon in Israel, would regularly dock at Algeciras and the Cypriot port city of Limassol. Authorities in Gibraltar say they have yet to receive a formal request for the vessel to dock.
The letter — signed by MPs including the former chair of the international development select committee, Sarah Champion, and John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor — says the F-16 is the aircraft type thought to be behind an Israeli strike that killed several British doctors from Medical Aid for Palestinians in Gaza in January.
It calls on the UK and Gibraltar’s leader chief minister, Fabian Picardo, to “prohibit and prevent Gibraltar being used as a haven for the transport of military fuel used in Israel’s assault on Gaza.”
The letter goes on to say: “The jet fuel will be unloaded and used to fuel the Israeli air force’s F16 and F35 that drop bombs on the people of Gaza. The 300,000 barrels of fuel are sufficient for around 12,000 F-16 refuellings.”
The signatories added: “The case to prevent Gibraltar’s facilities from being complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law are overwhelming. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault.”
Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion where it too warned against other nations aiding Israeli operations against the Palestinians in breach of international law.
In May, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said his country would not allow ships carrying weapons bound for Israel to use its ports.
Opposition to the Overseas Santorini docking in Spain or Gibraltar has been raised by local port-worker unions Union General de Trabajadores and Comisiones Obreras, as well as Spanish politicians including the current and former Podemos leaders Ione Belarra and Pablo Iglesias respectively.
A number of groups have also raised their opposition, including the Progressive International, Global Energy Embargo for Palestine, Disrupt Power, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, Valero Out of Corpus, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, Gibraltar for Palestine, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The UK government is reviewing export licenses selling arms to Israel in light of allegations of war crimes committed in the war on Gaza, which has so far killed more than 39,000 people.
US congressional aides launch site to allow free criticism of Gaza war
- Congressional Dissent Channel designed so individuals can speak freely, anonymously without fear of reprisal
- Organizers also behind mass walkout of staff in protest at Netanyahu speech to Congress
LONDON: A group of Washington staffers have launched a website to raise objections and criticisms of the US government’s stance on Gaza.
The site, known as the Congressional Dissent Channel, is designed so that individuals can speak freely and anonymously — including about colleagues, superiors and employers — without fear of retaliation, in a manner similar to a channel created by the US State Department to allow employees to voice dissent at their government, which was set up during the Vietnam War.
It has been established by aides who organized a walkout on Capitol Hill last week to protest the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which he addressed Congress. The same group also set up a flower vigil outside the Capitol in November last year to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, the New York Times reported.
The group said it is comprised of “congressional aides dedicated to changing the paradigm of US support for the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza being carried out by the state of Israel.”
Congressional aides tend to keep low professional profiles and have little recourse to airing opinions that differ from those of their bosses, and can face dismissal for doing so.
Michael Suchecki, spokesman for the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, told the NYT that aides have a duty to raise alternative opinions, especially when they differ from representatives and are being put forward by voters.
“While we may work for and be employed by the United States Congress, our ultimate sworn oath is to the Constitution — to the people of the United States,” he said.
In the wake of the attack on the US Capitol by rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, attitudes began to change toward the culture in Washington, with several groups of aides joining together to form the Congressional Progressive Staff Association demanding safer working conditions. Less than a year later, aides from eight congressional offices began to put in place the framework to establish an official workers union.
In the wake of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, many aides have turned their attention to using the organizations and networks they have established to try to work for a ceasefire from Washington itself, including raising awareness of US arms shipments to Israel used in the campaign.
In a statement on the Congressional Dissent Channel’s webpage, staffers wrote: “We are living through a fraught moment in U.S. foreign policy, one in which American-made bombs — paid for by American tax dollars — are dropped on homes, schools and hospitals.
“Despite the evidence before our eyes, the voices advocating in Congress for the pragmatic and moral solutions that would uphold our treaty obligations and could broker peace are repeatedly sidelined, ignored and maligned.”
The site was launched on Sunday. By Monday morning, six memos from anonymous congressional aides had been published, with those wishing to contribute told to email memos to the channel’s inbox for content evaluation, author identification and publication by a member of the team. Anonymous videos can also be submitted.
