NASA has set the record straight after astronauts aboard the Starliner spacecraft heard an odd repeating sound over the weekend.
The transmission, which was caught and shared online, soon went viral and was provoking a lot of speculation.
It started Saturday when American astronaut Butch Wilmore asked mission control to record a repetitive sound coming from a speaker aboard the Starliner spacecraft.
Michigan-based meteorologist Rob Dale captured the audio on a NASA spaceflight forum.
The Starliner is currently docked with the International Space Station and set to return at the end of this week.
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After a weekend of the mystery going viral, NASA shared its verdict. In a statement to Scripps News, NASA said the "space station audio is complex," and that the sounds were a result of that.
Most importantly, according to NASA, "the speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner's uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, September 6."
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are spending much longer than their original 8- to 10-day-long test mission after problems with the Boeing Starliner vehicle's propulsion system.
NASA plans to return the astronauts to Earth in early 2025.
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