Nasa responds after ‘strange noises’ heard coming from troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft

Astronauts had noted ‘strange’ sounds – and space agency did not immediately have an explanation

Nasa says that “strange” noises heard coming from the troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft are not an indicator that its crew are in any danger.

The unusual noises have now stopped and were the result of problems with the audio system that connects the spacecraft to the International Space Station, it said.

Over the weekend, astronaut Butch Wilmore reported that the Starliner craft was making an eerie pulsing sound, which he described as “strange”. He asked mission controllers to look into the sound and report back if they could find an explanation.

Now the space agency says that it has found a resolution, and that “noise and feedback” was “common”.

Mr Wilmore is one of two astronauts who flew the Starliner to the International Space Station for what was supposed to be a short test mission in June. The spacecraft ran into problems before, during and after its launch, however – and they eventually became so concerning that he and his colleague Suni Williams will now have to wait to be brought back down by a SpaceX mission in February.

When he reported that the spacecraft had begun to make unexplained sounds, it appeared to suggest that the Starliner could be experiencing even more problems.

“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 space agency said in a statement.

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

Nasa said that the noise had no impact on the crew, the spacecraft, or its plans. That includes the aim to have Starliner leave the space station – without its crew – on or after Friday.

Boeing and Nasa had hoped that the problems with Starliner could be investigated and resolved from the International Space Station. But in August it announced that engineers and other experts could not be sure that the spacecraft would be safe for their return journey, and so it would instead be sent back down to Earth on its own.