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Stuck in Space - Florida Tech's Don Platt is the go-to expert for anyone covering the stranded Boeing’s Starliner

How did they end up stranded on the International Space Station?

Aug 19, 2024

3 min

Don Platt, Ph.D.


Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams '95 M.S. took the trip of a lifetime in June, traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. 


Not long after their arrival to the ISS, however, the spacecraft began having mechanical issues. Since then, the pair have been left stranded in space with no return flight booked to come home.


As the scientific world, public and international media watch, experts like Don Platt from Florida Tech are supporting ongoing media coverage until the two astronauts return to Earth.


To return Starliner to Earth, the thrusters need to fire correctly at the right time to get the crew safely out of orbit.

"Clearly, you need to have thrusters to be able to position your spacecraft, to move away from the space station, to get into the position to safely reenter the Earth's atmosphere," said Don Platt, associate professor of space systems at Florida Tech.

"They claim just doing a rocket burn, they can probably make it home, but they don't know where'd they land," said Platt.

The problem lies with the propulsion system inside the service module.


"It sounds as if they've experienced a different amount of heating than expected with some of these thrusters, and had some affected things like valves that control the flow of propellant to the thrusters. So sometimes those valves will leak or not open all the way based on the amount of heat they are experiencing," said Platt.

Platt explained that the valves for these thrusters are comparable to fuel injectors in a car. They simply open and close to feed the propellant into the combustion chamber − the end result being thrust (power).

Part of the challenge for Boeing teams is that they can't exactly replicate what the spacecraft is experiencing in space. Platt said that heat is not just created from the thruster itself, but from the Sun.  August 11 - Florida Today




Don Platt, the director of Florida Tech’s Spaceport Education Center in Titusville and an associate professor of space systems, explained that Boeing is currently trying to figure out what went wrong with Starliner and to see if there is still a chance to use the thrusters.

"There's probably very little they can do to fix them at this point," Platt said. "What they can do is they can look at what thrusters are working properly, and how can we then use those thrusters to efficiently get the vehicle back into the atmosphere and then to the surface of the Earth."

While Starliner has been having extensive issues and now Boeing has some tough decisions to make about what's next, Platt said we need to remember that this was a test mission.

"I think that we've had a lot of success in space over the last decade or so, and we've probably gotten used to things going perfectly," Platt said. "Although space is not that easy, and we can see problems, problems do pop up from time to time. Even back in the days of the shuttle program, there used to be issues with the orbiter, even on orbit, and they'd have to think about, 'can we keep flying this mission, or do we need to return to the Earth?'" August 13 - Central Florida Public Media




For now, all we can do is watch and wait.


But if you're a journalist following this ongoing story, then let us help with your coverage.


Dr. Don Platt's work has involved developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications, rocket propulsion systems as well as astrobiology/biotechnology systems and human deep space exploration tools.


Don is available to speak with media anytime. Simply click on the icon below to arrange an interview today.

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Don Platt, Ph.D.

Don Platt, Ph.D.

Associate Professor | Director of the Spaceport Education Center

Dr. Platt's work has involved developing, testing and flying different types of avionics, communications and rocket propulsion systems.

Space SystemsRocket Propulsion SystemsDeep Space ExplorationSatellite DesignAstrodynamics

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