Stranded NASA astronaut reports strange noise from Boeing Starliner

As if being stranded in space in the near future wasn’t enough… one of the astronauts trapped aboard the ISS just sent an audio signal to NASA of an ominous sound coming from their malfunctioning Boeing Starliner aircraft.

In audio first reported by Ars Technicaastronaut Butch Wilmore can be heard while communicating with the Johnson Space Center in Houston… telling mission control, “I have a question about Starliner. There’s a strange noise coming from the speaker… I don’t know what’s causing it.”

Mission Control configured a way for Butch to play the sound over the phone… and after a failed attempt to hear it, Mission Control confirmed: “Butch, that came through. It was kind of like a pulsing sound, almost like a sonar ping .”

The image was first captured and shared by a Michigan meteorologist Rob Dale.

Butch played the audio again just to be sure and told NASA, “I’ll do it again and let you all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what’s going on.”

Houston confirmed that they will pass on the recording and let Butch know what they think.

As we previously reported… Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams are stranded on the International Space Station since June 6, due to problems with Starliner’s thrusters and helium leaks… after what was supposed to be a week-long stay.