[U: Resolved.] 2024: A Space "Oddity" -- Butch Reported Hearing Some "Sonar-Like Pulsings" Being Emitted From The Boeing Starliner Capsule, On Saturday...

So. . . the strange journey of Starliner continues. There seems to be an electronically-generated chirping emanating from the capsule's speakers from time to time -- and Mission Control has confirmed that it too can hear it, through Butch's microphone / headset. Just one more good reason to get the craft to ground, safely, and disassemble it for inspection -- and ultimately. . . design improvements.

Here's the latest from the very reliable British news outlet The Guardian, on it all:

. . .The source of the pulsing noise coming from Boeing spacecraft has not yet been traced. Wilmore asked Houston flight controllers to see if they could listen but ultimately Wilmore, apparently floating in Starliner, had to put his microphone up to the speaker.

“Alright Butch, that one came through,” Mission control radioed Wilmore. “It was kind of like a pulsing noise, almost like a sonar ping.” Wilmore radioed back: “I’ll let y’all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on … Call us if you figure it out.”

The strange ping was captured and shared by a Michigan-based meteorologist named Rob Dale and was first reported by Ars Technica. According to the outlet, audio oddities in spacecraft are not unusual. In 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei said he heard what sounded like an iron bucket being struck by a wooden hammer. . . .

Now you know -- speaking of space -- perhaps a "Romulus" viewing this evening, on a quiet Labor Day '24. And. . . get ready, you Buff fans, for Saturday's national TV games. Smile. . . the Huskers will play tough, end to end, in Lincoln.

UPDATED: the audio issue is simply. . . feedback: ". . .A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback. The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system. The speaker feedback Wilmore reported has no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations. . . ."

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