BBC Breakfast’s Naga Munchetty found herself in hot water during a chat with NASA expert Dr Ken Kremer. The 49-year-old presenter was joined by her co-host Charlie Stayt to probe the space boffin and clarify rumours that two astronauts got “stranded in space”.
Speculation was running high that NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who set off on June 5 for what was intended to be a brief trip, were now “trapped” in orbit after failing to return home, despite being in space for nearly two months.
Eager to uncover the truth, Naga asked Ken: “When people hear this story, are these astronauts in distress? Is there a real concern about what is going on because they’ve been up there much much longer than expected?”
But Ken didn’t beat around the bush when he called out Naga’s inaccuracies. In response, he said: “That’s been much much exaggerated.”
Dismissing the presenters’ claims, Ken definitively stated: “The astronauts are happy as clams to be up there”, reports the Mirror.
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“Astronauts are meant to be in space, that’s what they want to do and they are not in any imminent danger, no.”
He further clarified: “Yes there are issues with the Boeing starliner with helium leaks and with the thrusters, but they’ve done testing of those systems in orbit to confirm that they work and that the astronauts can actually come home at any time.”
The space boffin set the record straight about the astronauts’ situation, saying: “They’re not stranded, they’re not stuck in space, they’re happy to be where they are, they are contributing to science and the maintenance of the international space station so they are doing exactly what should have been done.”
Ken confessed that the space trek did hit a few snags but assured that everything’s tickety-boo now, pointing out that NASA’s lack of an “open-ended” return ticket was the main cock-up. He noted that the initial mission was meant to last “one week” which he told BBC hosts Naga and Charlie has turned into NASA’s “biggest PR problem”.
This was down to the constant pushing back of the homecoming date “every four days” initially, but Ken stepped in with a fresh strategy that NASA took on board. Clearing things up for the BBC presenters, Ken remarked: “So that’s why they have not announced a return date yet, because why? Those issues are in the service module and so that’s the only way to find out what’s wrong is to keep it in space.
“To conduct further tests, the service module must remain in orbit,” as Ken put it: “Once they separate and once they undock from the international space station they can’t do any more testing on that service module because it burns up. It doesn’t return, we don’t get it back at the end of the mission so the only way to study it is in space.”
(Image: (Image: BBC))
The scientist wrapped up his chat by rubbishing the wild rumours, saying: “The astronauts are there and they’ve practiced coming home procedures and they’ve practiced turning on the spaceship so everything is great right now, really.”
After the expert’s input, Naga seemed to row back, telling the audience: “So many reports of them being stuck and stranded. It’s very easy to see it as a distress story but he said they’re happy. ‘Happy as clams’ I think he said.”
Social media users were quick to pick up on the exchange, with some hinting that the BBC host was caught off guard post-chat. One social media user posted: “#bbcbreakfast Naga gets slapped down by a NASA scientist and is left with a face like a smacked a**e.”
Another chimed in with: “Ken certainly told Naga #bbcbreakfast,” followed by a chuckle emoji.
BBC Breakfast airs from 6am on BBC and BBC iPlayer.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
