NASA says it identified a ‘strange noise’ coming from Boeing’s Starliner.
“The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and the Starliner,” NASA said in a statement.
“The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback.”
Over the weekend, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore radioed to Mission Control to report a bizarre sound coming from the spacecraft’s speakers.
Mission Control listened to the noise and said it sounded like a sonar ping.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has completed three space flights in his career, posted a snippet of the clip on X, which has been viewed more than 2 million times:
NASA reports that the Starliner is scheduled to undock on September 6 and return to Earth without a crew.
Wilmore, who reported the bizarre noise, has been stuck in space with another astronaut, Suni Williams, since June after discovering a helium leak on the Starliner.
The pair was only supposed to be there for an eight-day mission.
According to NASA, a Space X Crew Dragon capsule will bring them home early next year.
The mission won’t happen until February, leaving the astronauts aboard the ISS for nearly eight months.