The mysterious noise coming from the Boeing Starliner has been identified (no, it wasn’t aliens)

NASA has clarified the origin of the mysterious “radar” sound that was heard in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft. According to a statement issued on Monday, the sound was caused by feedback (coupling) from a speaker, due to an audio configuration between the International Space Station (ISS) and the Starliner.

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The space agency assured that this type of docking is common and confirmed that the pulsating sound has already ceased. Despite this incident, NASA has maintained the planned schedule for the autonomous undocking of the Starliner on Friday.

The unusual sound was reported by Barry “Butch” Wilmore, one of the astronauts aboard the ISS, during a conversation with the control center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “You can hear a strange noise through the speaker… I don’t know what’s causing it,” Wilmore said, according to Ars Technica, which published the audio of the conversation.

The control center responded that they were listening to the audio from inside the spacecraft, and described the sound as “a kind of pulsating noise, almost like a sonar ping.” Although the mystery kept many on edge for a day, NASA concluded that the phenomenon poses no technical risk to the crew or the operations of the space station.

The Starliner, which took off on its inaugural flight on June 5th, experienced several technical issues, including helium leaks and failures in the control thrusters, which forced the spacecraft to remain docked to the ISS for a much longer time than planned. NASA plans for the Starliner to return to Earth on Saturday, landing at the White Sands Space Port in New Mexico, while Wilmore and his crewmate, Sunita “Suni” Williams, will stay on the ISS until their return in February aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

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