On August 31, astronaut Butch Wilmore, stationed on the ISS, heard strange sounds. They came from a speaker inside the Starliner spacecraft.
“I’ve got a question about Starliner,” Wilmore radioed to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston. “There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker … I don’t know what’s making it.”
Wilmore said he wasn’t sure if the noise was caused by some problem in the connection between the station and the spacecraft or something else. He asked dispatchers in Houston to see if they could listen to the sound inside the spacecraft. The astronaut then put his microphone to a speaker inside the Starliner.
A meteorologist and amateur radio operator from Michigan named Rob Dale intercepted a broadcast of this sound and posted the recording online. It can be heard with a characteristic pulsating beeping sound, somewhat similar to the sounds of sonar.
Specialists on Earth didn’t immediately figure out the cause of the noise. Apparently, the problem lies in the so-called hardline. As the Starliner flew toward the ISS, it communicated with it using a radio frequency system. After docking, the crew installed the hardline that transmitted the sounds.
Strange sounds in space
The reason for the strange sounds seems to be the hardline and they are not a threat. However, former space agency astronaut Chris Hadfield has already stated that there are a few sounds he would rather not hear inside a spacecraft, including this one.
There are several noises I'd prefer not to hear inside my spaceship, including this one that @Boeing Starliner is now making. pic.twitter.com/NMMPMo5dtt
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) September 1, 2024
Astronauts notice such oddities in space from time to time. For example, China’s first taikonaut, Yang Liwei, said that while in orbit, he heard a sound like a wooden hammer banging on an iron bucket. Scientists later realized that the noise was caused by slight deformations of the spacecraft due to pressure differences between its inner and outer walls.
In any case, noise is the least of Starliner’s problems. Due to concerns about its safety, NASA recently made the decision to return the spacecraft to Earth empty. It will undock from the ISS on September 6. As for the Starliner crew, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return to Earth on Crew Dragon in February 2025.
According to Arstechnica
