The mystery of a “strange noise” that NASA astronauts heard coming from the Boeing Starliner spacecraft while aboard the International Space Station has been solved, the space agency announced Monday.
Astronaut Butch Wilmore first reported a pulsating sound coming from speakers inside the spacecraft to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday, just days before the spacecraft was scheduled to leave the station and return to Earth on autopilot.
In a statement on social media, NASA said the pulsating noise from the speaker then stopped and determined the feedback was due to an audio setup between the space station and Starliner.
“The space station’s audio systems are complex, with multiple interconnected spacecraft and modules, and it is common for noise and feedback to occur,” NASA said. “Crew members are asked to contact Mission Control if they hear any sounds emanating from the communications system. The loudspeaker feedback reported by Wilmore has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner’s unmanned separation from the station by Friday, September 6.”
Trapped in space, NASA astronauts report hearing ‘strange noises’ coming from troubled Starliner capsule
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams pose inside the foyer between the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 13. The astronauts have been confined to space since June. (NASA)
The mysterious pulsating noise occurred as Starliner was scheduled to detach from the space station while empty and land on autopilot in the New Mexico desert for its return journey.


Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docks with the International Space Station’s Harmony module on July 3. Photographed through a window of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, which is docked in an adjacent port. (Associated Press via NASA)
Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams, who have been confined to the space station since June, are scheduled to remain in space until February after NASA decided it was too risky to return the experienced pilots to Earth aboard the Starliner. The current plan is to return the astronauts in a SpaceX capsule.
NASA plans to send just two astronauts to the ISS instead of three to allow two stranded astronauts to return home after the Boeing Starliner crash
The astronauts had originally planned on a week-long trip, but the mission has been hit by problems after a thruster malfunction and a helium leak.


NASA said the mysterious pulsating sound was the result of an audio setup between Starliner and the International Space Station. (NASA via The Associated Press, File)
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Boeing had hoped that Starliner’s first crewed flight would help revive the troubled spacecraft program after years of delays and ballooning costs. The company had maintained that Starliner was safe based on recent thruster tests both in space and on the ground.
Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.