It sounds less than ideal — but as the report notes, Williams and Wilmore’s difficulties don’t end with their sleeping arrangements.
As with every ISS mission, the Starliner astronauts initially had specific jobs to do on board the station that would have eaten up their eight-day journey. As Time reports, their main priority was checking in on the Boeing capsule and making sure its communications, life support, and other essential functions were in good shape.
With that checklist done and their journey having been extended until possibly February due to Starliner’s technical issues, Wilmore and Williams have instead been assisting their fellow crew members with their tasks and experiments, including repairing a urine processing pump.
Beyond that lovely job, Wilmore and Williams were also forced to stretch their clothing rations because there’s no laundry on board the ISS. Generally speaking, astronauts pack enough clothes for the length of their journey, and with their trip home having been pushed back repeatedly, the Starliner crew had to make do until a Northrop Grumman resupply mission finally came to deliver them new clothes earlier this month.
Am I missing something? I thought their lives were in danger or something. We’re here talking about sleeping arrangements and clothing? From what they described, I put up with FAR worse while camping in various weather conditions here on earth. Am I confused about what they’re going through?
Essentially the chance of something wrong happening on there return is high than like 1/270 or something, Scott Manley said 1/270 in a video so that’s where I’m getting that number, so they’re keeping them up there until they can either bring that chance down or get them another way home. If shit were to hit the fan in their orbit and they had to come home right now they could hop in Starliner and return but the risk for non emergencies is higher than NASA wants to accept right now.
They aren’t stranded on a desert island, but they are stranded.