Now there’s a creepy, sonar-like sound coming through one of Starliner’s speakers

Sep 2, 2024

Astronaut Butch Wilmore reported a mysterious noise from Starliner's speaker to NASA's Mission Control.

Now there’s a creepy, sonar-like sound coming through one of Starliner’s speakers

: Astronaut Butch Wilmore notified NASA’s Mission Control on Saturday about a strange, sonar-like noise coming from a speaker on the Starliner spacecraft. Despite the efforts, the sound's origin remains unclear. The Starliner, docked at the ISS since June, will return to Earth uncrewed on September 6, 2024, while Wilmore and Suni Williams will stay on the ISS.

On Saturday, astronaut Butch Wilmore contacted NASA’s Mission Control to report an odd noise coming from one of Starliner’s speakers. The strange, pulsing sound, compared to a sonar ping, was confirmed by Mission Control after Wilmore held his mic to the speaker.

Listen to the sound

Despite attempts to identify the source, the noise’s origin remains unknown. The Boeing-built spacecraft has been docked at the ISS since June, with engineers dealing with other issues since its first crewed flight.

Starliner is scheduled to undock from the ISS and make an uncrewed return trip to Earth on September 6, 2024. Astronauts Wilmore and Suni Williams will continue their work on the ISS until their return on a SpaceX flight in February 2025.