They were sounds, even for an experienced astronaut admitted
he would never want to hear it in space. On August 31, Butch Wilmore, the (non)stranded Boeing Starliner crew member, informed NASA from the International Space Station of yet another baffling problem: a speaker on board the already malfunctioning spacecraft began emitting unexplained pinging noises.
“There’s a strange noise coming through… I don’t know what’s causing it,” Wilmore explained to mission control on Saturday. “…I’ll let you all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on.”
The full conversation, first highlighted by meteorologist Rob Dale on the NASA Space Forum and then reported by Ars Technicalasted less than two minutes. After holding a microphone to the speaker, Wilmore’s audio highlighted a clear, semi-regular echo that resembled the tone often heard in submarines – or Stranger franchise films. An unnamed NASA employee subsequently confirmed that they could also hear the mystery pattern through their communications relay.
“And Butch, just to make sure I’m on the same page, this is from the speaker in Starliner? You don’t notice anything else – are there other sounds, other strange configurations in there? they asked before confirming they would investigate.
“There are several sounds I would rather not hear in my spaceship, including this sound that Boeing Starliner is making right now,” said former Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield posted on X along with a snippet of Sunday’s pings.
After a day of internet speculation, NASA has posted an update on the social media site Monday, confirming that the “pulsing noise… has stopped.” According to the agency’s analysis, the noises were a result of the audio configuration between Starliner and the ISS.
“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be connected together, and it is common to experience noise and feedback,” NASA explained, adding that crew members are always asked to avoid unexplained noises within the communications arrays to report. The feedback, while potentially unnerving, had “no technical impact on the crew, Starliner or station operations,” including the unmanned undocking of Starliner currently scheduled for no earlier than September 6.
[Related: Starliner astronauts are watering plants and fixing urine pumps on ISS.]
Although strange-sounding radio bursts are reportedly normal occurrences on the ISS, the current status of Boeing’s first reusable spacecraft is both unprecedented and coincidental. After years of production delays, followed by weeks of technical problems, Starliner finally launched with two crew members on June 5. Wilmore, fellow astronaut Suni Williams and NASA ground control reported problems almost immediately during their journey to the ISS. After successfully docking with the station, engineers quickly confirmed that several thrusters were malfunctioning, and have since spent weeks trying to fix the problems. What was originally planned as an eight-day mission for Wilmore and Williams is now a multi-month visit to the ISS, effectively making them part of NASA’s mission. Crew-9 rotation.
Right now, the pair won’t return to Earth until February 2025, giving them plenty of time to deal with science experiments, urine pump maintenance, and possibly discovering more creepy noises.