NASA’s Sunita Williams could end up stuck in space with just 96 hours of oxygen on Boeing Starliner, expert explains | Space

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams has been compelled to extend her stay in space along with her fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore. While NASA is exploring options to bring back the astronauts safely soon, there are still many potential risks that they need to take care of. As per a CNBC report, Rudy Ridolfi, a former commander of US military space systems, has stated that there is a chance that the astronauts will be stranded in space with just 96 hours of oxygen supply.

He explained that this situation might arise if Starliner, with malfunctioning thrusters, attempts to re-enter at an improper angle, causing it to bounce off the Earth’s atmosphere and remain in the orbit.

Initially scheduled to return in 8 days, it has been delayed by over 2 months now due to technical issues with the Starliner spacecraft. It is expected that it is delayed by 8 months. Ridolfi also revealed two more possible scenarios that the astronauts might face on their way back to Earth.

Another possible scenario is that the spacecraft might fail to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere due to faulty alignment. If this happens, the Starliner will be stranded in space indefinitely. Lastly, he added that there is also a chance that puts astronauts’ lives in danger. He said that if the spacecraft tries to enter at a steep angle, it could lead to failure of Starliner’s heat shield under…