U.S. astronaut Barry Wilmore called NASA ground crews on Saturday to ask for help with a repetitive knocking sound coming from his Boeing Starliner. Interaction captured NASA space flight Forum member who included a recording of the content in his post was technical art.
In the recording, Wilmore asks NASA staff in Houston to configure their call so he can show them the noise, which he says is coming from speakers inside Starliner. Then, a repetitive clanking sound can be heard, with a slight sensation of something on the wings. The Earth-side crew described it as “almost like a sonar pulse.”
This mysterious sound likely has a very mundane explanation, as one person on Reddit compared it to a very specific type of feedback loop. At least neither Wilmore nor the NASA ground team members he spoke to seemed particularly concerned (even if it does resemble the disturbing Ganado theme) Resident Evil 4).
Boeing’s Starliner is currently scheduled to undocking on September 6 and return to Earth in an automated, uncrewed manner, while its original intended passengers, Wilmore and astronaut Sunita Williams, will remain on the International Space Station until Early next year.
