据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）报道，经过数周的故障排除和近期的测试后，美国宇航局和波音公司的官员仍未确定两名搭乘波音“星际客机”前往国际空间站的宇航员的返回日期。

After weeks of troubleshooting and recent tests meant to replicate the issues plaguing Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, NASA and Boeing officials still aren't ready to name a return date for the two astronauts piloting the vehicle on its inaugural crewed test flight.

图源：CNN

不过，针对是什么导致了“星际客机”在第一段旅程中发生故障，包括氦泄漏和推进器在前往国际空间站的途中突然停止工作等问题，工程师们已经找到了一些可能的答案。

But engineers do finally have some possible answers about what ultimately caused some of the Starliner's problems during the first leg of its trip, which included helium leaks and thrusters that abruptly quit working en route to the International Space Station.

波音商业载人航天计划项目经理马克·纳皮说，波音公司和美国国家航空航天局过去几周一直在努力了解问题，并计划在本周末进行一些额外的测试。

The revelations come after Boeing and NASA spent the past couple of weeks working to understand the problem on the ground and prompted plans for some additional testing this weekend, which should serve as "icing on the cake" for understanding the issues, said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program manager.

据报道，波音公司在地面模拟了“星际客机”推进器点火过程，希望能够复现推进器在太空发生故障的情况。纳皮表示，测试“让我们有更多信心解决问题”。

通过这些测试，波音公司和美国国家航空航天局放弃了让宇航员在返航途中手动驾驶“星际客机”的计划。“一些手动操作给推进器带来了额外的压力。”美国国家航空航天局项目经理史蒂夫·施蒂奇说。

The findings also prompted Boeing and NASA to abandon plans to allow the astronauts to manually fly the Starliner spacecraft on the way home. "Some of the manual maneuvering put some extra stress on the thrusters," said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial crew program manager.

施蒂奇还表示，如果“星际客机”无法带宇航员回家，美国宇航局有应急选择。