NASA confirms cause of mysterious sound from Boeing's Starliner on ISS

Boeing's troubled Starliner craft made headlines again this week after it began producing strange sounds.

Butch Wilmore, one of the two astronauts currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), recorded the capsule emitting an eerie ping, similar to that of a submarine's radar.

NASA has since confirmed that the sound was due to feedback from the speaker.

However, the issue has alarmed many space enthusiasts, including former astronaut Chris Hadfield.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr. Hadfield, who commanded the ISS in 2013, commented, “There are several noises I'd prefer not to hear inside my spaceship, including this one that Starliner is now making.”

On Saturday morning, Wilmore contacted Mission Control at Johnson Space Center to inquire about the unexplained noises coming from Starliner's speakers.

In a recording initially shared by a member of NASA Space Flight forums, Wilmore says, “I've got a question about Starliner, there's a strange noise coming through the speaker ... I don't know what's making it.”

A few minutes later, Mission Control responded, informing Wilmore that they were now communicating via 'hardline' and could listen to the audio inside the spacecraft.

As Wilmore held the microphone up to the speakers, the peculiar rhythmic clang could be distinctly heard.

Mission Control responded, “Butch, that one came through. It was kind of like a pulsating noise, almost like a sonar ping.”

Wilmore then told Mission Control he would “do it one more time, and I'll let y'all scratch your heads and see if you can figure out what's going on,” before replaying the sound.

Mission Control seemed unsure of the cause, only telling Wilmore they would investigate and inform him of their findings.

In an emailed statement released today, NASA has confirmed that they have identified the source of the issue.