Bad News for Boeing Starliner

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Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#1 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:16 pm

Crucial test for Boeing's Starliner, built to carry humans, delayed until 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/19/tech/boe ... index.html

Boeing's long-awaited spacecraft, called Starliner, is still facing a long road ahead before it'll be ready to fly astronauts, the company said on Tuesday. It is still working to address an issue with the vehicle's propulsion system that was discovered just hours before it was slated to launch a crucial uncrewed test flight in August, the company said.

The Starliner still needs to complete that uncrewed mission before it can fly, and the test is now slated for as late as mid-2022, NASA and Boeing officials told reporters during a press call Tuesday.
The Starliner is a gumdrop-shaped capsule meant to ferry astronauts through space after launching atop a rocket. The vehicle is years behind its planned entry to service, and myriad issues and delays during the development process have been a black eye for longtime aerospace and defense giant. Meanwhile, its rival, the relative upstart SpaceX, has already completed development and testing of its own crewed spacecraft.
Boeing was slated to repeat an uncrewed test flight of Starliner in August after several major software issues plagued its first attempt in December 2019, leaving the spacecraft unable to dock with the ISS and forcing it to make an early return to Earth.
After more than a year of working to solve those issues, a new slate of problems was discovered when the spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad in August and began going through pre-flight ground checks. Eventually Boeing announced that the problem could not be fixed on the launch pad, and the whole vehicle had to be rolled back to the assembly building for further troubleshooting.
Michelle Parker, the chief engineer of Boeing's Space and Launch division, said the Starliner capsule is still back at a Boeing factory, though engineers have spent the past few months working to determine exactly what went wrong with the vehicle. The company believes it may have found a solution to the problem: Water leaking into valves used to funnel fuel for the spacecraft's thrusters.
Boeing delays Starliner spacecraft launch again over technical issues
Boeing delays Starliner spacecraft launch again over technical issues
Boeing officials still could not give a clear answer on exactly why the issues were observed or why the problem wasn't caught before Starliner made it all the way back to the launch pad and after months of investigations and additional checks.
Boeing officials also acknowledged that the test flight could not have continued successfully if it had attempted to launch without addressing the valve issue.
Steve Stich — manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which oversees the development of Starliner — also revealed that such a problem with leaky valves isn't unheard of. He said he could specifically recall troubleshooting a similar problem with a Space Shuttle back when those vehicles were still operating.
Officials on the press call Tuesday said they had no reason to assume the valves would have issues because they performed seamlessly during previous tests. They did not, for example, present any problems during the 2019 uncrewed test flight, called an Orbital Flight Test.
Possible solutions Boeing is looking into include loading propellant onto the Starliner capsule closer to launch. Before the August test flight, it was loaded 46 days before the scheduled flight. Before the 2019 test flight, they were loaded 35 days prior.
Engineers are also working on a "purge" mechanism that should keep the valves free of leaky water issue.
The extensive delays with Starliner — which was originally slated to start flying in 2017 — have already caused issues for NASA, which hopes to rely on Starliner as well as SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule to get astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Earlier this month, the space agency annoucned it was taking the rare step of re-assigning some astronauts that were slated to fly on Starliner and putting them on future SpaceX missions.
Boeing has a fixed price contract for Starliner development, meaning the company got a $4.2 billion award but will not receive additional funds to address the ongoing delays and development issues.
Boeing already set aside $410 million of its own money in 2019 after the first botched test flight attempt to keep the program funded as it worked to resolve issues. John Vollmer, vice president of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program, confirmed to reporters Tuesday that Boeing will not be seeking additional funds to carry it through the current phase of troubleshooting. He did not say how much, in total, the recent delays are expected to cost.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#2 Post by k3k3 » Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:33 pm

:-s Leaky is not a good word to use in connection with something going into space.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#3 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed May 11, 2022 5:00 pm

Boeing clashes with key supplier ahead of Starliner spacecraft launch
By Reuters
Published 9:29 AM EDT, Wed May 11, 2022

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/11/tech/boe ... index.html

Boeing Co. is feuding with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a key supplier for its Starliner spacecraft, as the U.S. aerospace giant races to test launch the uncrewed astronaut capsule and mend its reputation in the space sector, people familiar with the matter said.

The CST-100 Starliner is scheduled for a May 19 Florida launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket to the International Space Station, with Boeing aiming to show NASA that the spacecraft is safe to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. Software failures cut short a similar 2019 uncrewed test flight.

The mission is a crucial step toward re-establishing Boeing as a viable rival to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a drive complicated by Boeing’s disagreement with propulsion system supplier Aerojet, according to three people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chicago-based Boeing (BA) (BA) and El Segundo, California-based Aerojet (ARJD) are at odds over the cause of a problem involving fuel valves in the Starliner propulsion system that forced a postponement of a test flight last July, with the two companies faulting one another, the sources said.

The disagreement, which has not been reported before, comes at time when Boeing already is scrambling to emerge from successive crises that have hobbled its jetliner business and drained cash.

The Aerojet dispute is the latest illustration of Boeing’s struggles with Starliner, a program costing the company $595 million in charges since 2019. Facing fixed-price NASA contracts that leave Boeing with little wiggle room financially, the company has pressed forward with the Starliner test.

Boeing in a statement provided by a spokesperson to Reuters acknowledged for the first time that it ultimately intends to redesign Starliner’s valve system to prevent a repeat of the issue that forced last year’s test-flight postponement. The Boeing statement said that “we are working on short- and long-term design changes to the valves.”

Thirteen fuel valves that are part of a propulsion system that helps steer Starliner in space were discovered stuck and unresponsive in the closed position, prompting last year’s postponement.

The various technical setbacks have pushed Starliner’s first flight with people aboard into an unknown future, placing it far behind Musk’s SpaceX, whose Crew Dragon capsule, developed under the same NASA program as Starliner, has already flown five astronaut crews for the U.S. space agency.

NASA hopes Boeing can provide additional options to carry astronauts to the space station. NASA in March awarded SpaceX three more missions to make up for Boeing’s delays.

A team of Boeing and NASA engineers is in general agreement that the cause of the stuck valves involves a chemical reaction between propellant, aluminum materials and the intrusion of moisture from Starliner’s humid Florida launch site.

Aerojet engineers and lawyers see it differently, blaming a cleaning chemical that Boeing has used in ground tests, two of the sources said.

An Aerojet representative declined to comment.

‘ROOT CAUSE’
“Testing to determine root cause of the valve issue is complete,” Boeing said in its statement, and the work did not find the problems described by Aerojet.

NASA shares that view, Steve Stich, who oversees the Boeing and SpaceX crew programs for the space agency, told Reuters.

Boeing also said Aerojet did not meet its contractual requirements to make the propulsion system resilient enough to resist the problems caused by the chemical reactions.

Boeing last week wheeled Starliner back to the launch pad for a third time ahead of the upcoming launch, having swapped out the propulsion system for a new one with a temporary fix that prevents moisture from seeping into the valve section.

Boeing and NASA said they did not recreate any fully stuck valves during nine months of testing, instead measuring the degree to which valves struggled to open.

This approach was used in order to get Starliner back to the launchpad quickly, two of the sources said.

NASA, Boeing, Aerojet and independent safety advisers are set to meet this week to reach a final determination on the cause of the valve problems and decide whether the temporary fix will work.

Boeing officials privately regard Aerojet’s explanation for the faulty valves as a bid to deflect responsibility for the costly delay for Starliner and to avoid paying for a redesigned valve system, two of the sources said.

“It’s laughable,” one person involved in the joint Boeing-NASA investigation of the value issue said of Aerojet’s claim, speaking anonymously to discuss confidential supplier relations. “Getting a valve maker or propulsion system provider to write down, ‘Yeah, I screwed that up’ … that’s never gonna happen.”

After testing and software issues caused Starliner’s 2019 failure to dock at the space station, NASA officials acknowledged they had trusted Boeing too much when they decided to devote more engineering oversight to the newer SpaceX than the aerospace giant.

The feud with Aerojet is not Boeing’s first Starliner subcontractor quarrel. In 2017, Starliner had an accident during a ground test that forced the president of a different subcontractor to have his leg medically amputated. The subcontractor sued, and Boeing subsequently settled the case.

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Starliner

#4 Post by Boac » Sun May 15, 2022 2:44 pm

Launch of the first (uncrewed) mission to the ISS now scheduled for 18:54 EST Thursday

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Re: Starliner

#5 Post by Phewins » Tue May 17, 2022 3:36 am

Boac wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 2:44 pm
Launch of the first (unscrewed) mission to the ISS now scheduled for 18:54 EST Thursday
Phil

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#6 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed May 18, 2022 8:14 pm

Boeing tries to catch up to SpaceX after plenty of drama

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/tech/boe ... index.html

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company, a primary US defense contractor, and a titan of a global aviation duopoly. A few years ago, the idea that it would dominate commercial space was a given, and companies like SpaceX, a relatively young business relying on a strategy of moving fast and breaking things, would take a back seat to the move level-headed and experienced Boeing.

That, however, did not come to fruition.

Errors, delays and failures beleaguered the spacecraft’s development. There was a botched test flight, software issues, sticky valves and a lawsuit involving an executive at a subcontractor who is said to have lost his leg during a Starliner test.

After initially giving SpaceX closer scrutiny than Boeing, officials later said they regretted that as many of Starliner’s issues slipped through the cracks. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s relatively new entrant into the spaceflight business, ultimately beat Boeing to the launch pad. The company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has now logged six astronaut launches for NASA since it entered service in 2020.

Meanwhile, Boeing is still trying to get through an uncrewed test flight. The company will make its second attempt this week, hoping a flawless performance will mend its image as the fallen star of human spaceflight.

The controversies surrounding Starliner have also added to other woes within Boeing’s commercial aircraft division that have chipped away at the company’s formerly rock-solid image over the past several years.

Here’s a look back at Starliner’s trying past.

OFT-1
In 2014, NASA awarded fixed-price contracts — meaning the space agency would only pay the initial agreed-upon price and not a penny more — to Boeing and SpaceX. The move cemented their slots as the companies that would take NASA astronauts back to space under the Commercial Crew program. Boeing’s awards totaled $4.2 billion, a significant markup compared to the $2.6 billion SpaceX was given, though the company has said that’s because SpaceX had already received millions for development of an uncrewed version of its Dragon vehicle.

Though both spacecrafts were expected to blast astronauts into space just a few years later, as the end of the decade neared, it became clear that SpaceX was outpacing Boeing.

When the company’s first uncrewed orbital flight test, dubbed OFT-1, reached the launch pad in December 2019, SpaceX had already beaten it by six months.

And almost immediately after Starliner launched on December 20, 2019, it was clear something was wrong.

Later, it was revealed that Starliner’s internal clock was off by 11 hours, which caused the spacecraft to misfire and stumble off course, NASA and Boeing officials told reporters. Starliner was forced to make an early return to Earth.

Months later, a second serious software issue was revealed, with one government safety official saying it could have caused a “catastrophic failure.” Boeing (BA) was able to identify and correct the error before it impacted Starliner’s behavior, however.

Boeing agreed to fix the issues and pay for a second attempt at the uncrewed test flight, setting aside nearly half a billion dollars. Months of troubleshooting, safety reviews and investigations followed the test flight.

Former astronaut pulls out of mission
Former NASA astronaut Chris Ferguson, who left the government astronaut corps in 2011 to help Boeing design and build the Starliner, was slated to command the first crewed mission of Starliner as a private astronaut. But after the failure of its inaugural flight test, Ferguson announced he could no longer fly on the vehicle, citing scheduling conflicts.

NASA and Boeing made the announcement in late 2020, saying Ferguson made the decision for “personal reasons.” Ferguson said in a follow-up tweet that he planned to prioritize his family, and he “made several commitments which I simply cannot risk missing.”

Though the crewed mission has been rescheduled several times, there do not appear to be plans to return Ferguson to the mission.

A NASA astronaut, Barry “Butch” Wilmore, was assigned to take Ferguson’s place.

Sticky valves and Florida humidity
Boeing believed it was ready to put Starliner back to the test last year, and it scheduled a second attempt at the orbital flight test — this one dubbed OFT-2 — for August.

More problems quickly arose. When the spacecraft was rolled out to its launch pad and began going through pre-flight ground checks, engineers discovered that key valves on the Starliner were sticking. Eventually Boeing announced that the problem could not be fixed on the launch pad, and the whole vehicle had to be rolled back to the assembly building for further troubleshooting.

By mid-August, Boeing had given up trying to fix the issues on site. The Starliner had to be sent all the way back to Boeing’s factory.

In press conferences leading up to Thursday’s test fight, Boeing officials revealed that they will fly OFT-2 this week with a “short-term” fix in place, but the company may ultimately opt to redesign the valve system.

Other issues
Adding to the questions surrounding Boeing’s safety practices as Starliner heads back to the launch pad this week is a recent report from Reuters, which highlighted a previously overlooked lawsuit filed against Boeing last year by a subcontractor who was said to have his leg partially amputated after an accident that occurred ahead of a 2017 Starliner parachute test.

Boeing confirmed in a statement that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of the employee and the subcontractor. “The matter was settled by all of the parties; the terms of the settlement are confidential,” the statement reads.

Court documents confirm the matter was settled in December 2021.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#7 Post by Boac » Thu May 19, 2022 8:43 pm

NASA coverage starts at 2100Z. I shall have had my cocoa and be tucked up in bed by the time it launches (if it does...... :)) )

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Re: Starliner

#8 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu May 19, 2022 8:59 pm

Boac wrote:
Sun May 15, 2022 2:44 pm
Launch of the first (uncrewed) mission to the ISS now scheduled for 18:54 EST Thursday


NASA coverage starts at 2100Z. I shall have had my cocoa and be tucked up in bed by the time it launches (if it does...... :)) )
Almost two hour build-up to launch. :-o
Hope that they can keep interest for that long...that is assuming the countdown even starts. :))

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#9 Post by Boac » Thu May 19, 2022 9:14 pm

The NASA channel is re-running a press conference from yesterday! https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next ... iner-oft-2 shows the countdown (still counting!)

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#10 Post by Boac » Fri May 20, 2022 11:49 am

Docking scheduled for 2310(Z)

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#11 Post by Boac » Sat May 21, 2022 8:31 am

Docking successful.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#12 Post by PHXPhlyer » Sat May 21, 2022 4:16 pm

Boeing docks crew capsule to International Space Station in test do-over
Everything checked out well, Boeing said, except for a cooling loop and the two failed thrusters


https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/boein ... st-do-over#

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - With only a test dummy aboard, Boeing’s astronaut capsule pulled up and parked at the International Space Station for the first time Friday, a huge achievement for the company after years of false starts.

With Starliner’s arrival, NASA finally realizes its longtime effort to have crew capsules from competing U.S. companies flying to the space station.

SpaceX already has a running start. Elon Musk’s company pulled off the same test three years ago and has since launched 18 astronauts to the space station, as well as tourists.

"Today marks a great milestone," NASA astronaut Bob Hines radioed from the space station. "Starliner is looking beautiful on the front of the station," he added.


The only other time Boeing’s Starliner flew in space, it never got anywhere near the station, ending up in the wrong orbit.

This time, the overhauled spacecraft made it to the right spot following Thursday’s launch and docked at the station 25 hours later. The automated rendezvous went off without a major hitch, despite a pair of thrusters that failed during liftoff.

If the rest of Starliner’s mission goes well, Boeing could be ready to launch its first crew by the end of this year. The astronauts likely to serve on the first Starliner crew joined Boeing and NASA flight controllers in Houston, as the action unfolded nearly 270 miles (435 kilometers) up.

NASA wants redundancy when it comes to the Florida-based astronaut taxi service. Administrator Bill Nelson said Boeing’s long road with Starliner underscores the importance of having two types of crew capsules. U.S. astronauts were stuck riding Russian rockets once the shuttle program ended, until SpaceX’s first crew flight in 2020.

Boeing’s first Starliner test flight in 2019 was plagued by software errors that cut the mission short and could have doomed the spacecraft. Those were corrected, but when the new capsule awaited liftoff last summer, corroded valves halted the countdown. More repairs followed, as Boeing chalked up nearly $600 million in do-over costs.

Before letting Starliner get close to the space station Friday, Boeing ground controllers practiced maneuvering the capsule and tested its robotic vision system. Everything checked out well, Boeing said, except for a cooling loop and the two failed thrusters. The capsule held a steady temperature, however, and had plenty of other thrusters for steering.

Once Starliner was within 10 miles (15 kilometers) of the space station, Boeing flight controllers in Houston could see the space station through the capsule’s cameras. "We’re waving. Can you see us?" joked Hines.

There was only silence from Starliner. The commander’s seat was occupied once again by the mannequin dubbed Rosie the Rocketeer, a space-age version of World War II’s Rosie the Riveter.

The gleaming white-with-blue-trim capsule hovered 33 feet (10 meters) from the station for close to two hours — considerably longer than planned — as flight controllers adjusted its docking ring and ensured everything else was in order. When the green light finally came, Starliner closed the gap in four minutes, eliciting cheers in Boeing’s control center. Applause erupted once the latches were tightly secured.

"These last 48 hours have just been a barnstorm, so it’s going to be very good to sleep tonight," said Mark Nappi, vice president and director of Boeing’s commercial crew program.

It was a double celebration for NASA’s commercial crew program director Steve Stich, who turned 57 Friday. "What an incredible birthday it was," he told reporters.

The space station’s seven astronauts will unload groceries and gear from Starliner and pack it up with experiments. Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon capsule that splashes down off the Florida coast, Starliner will aim for a landing in New Mexico next Wednesday.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#13 Post by PHXPhlyer » Wed May 25, 2022 7:03 pm

Boeing’s Starliner capsule on its way home from test mission

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/25/tech/boe ... index.html

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft departed the International Space Station on Wednesday afternoon after a five-day stay and is now heading for a landing in the remote New Mexican desert at 4:49 pm MT.

As it approaches the thick inner shell of the Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will ignite its thrusters in a fiery blaze of heat and speed before deploying parachutes to slow its descent. It’s expected to land in a puff of sand in a remote area of the New Mexican desert, called White Sands, which has long been the site of aerospace and weapons tests.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aboard launches from Space Launch Complex 41, Thursday, May 19, 2022, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Here's what happened during Boeing's 'nail-biting' spacecraft docking
A safe return of the capsule could mark a major milestone for Boeing, which has spent years trying to right the program after a string of mishaps and delays that tarnished the once-sterling reputation of the company’s space business.

If all goes well with the landing, the Starliner, which is crewed only by a spacesuit-clad mannequin for this test mission, could fly its first load of NASA astronauts to the ISS by the end of 2022.

This test mission, however, has already encountered a few minor setbacks, including issues with four of the spacecraft’s on-board thrusters, which orient and maneuver the vehicle as it flies through space. The thruster hitch did not impact the overall mission, as the Starliner is equipped with backups, Boeing and NASA officials told reporters. But it does raise questions about the root cause of the problem and whether it could point to deeper issues on a spacecraft that has grappled with numerous technical hangups throughout its development.

A series of data and hardware issues also held up Starliner’s ability to dock with the ISS on Friday.

“I don’t know about you, but the last few hours have been excruciating,” NASA associate administrator Kathryn Lueders said during a press conference Friday night. “Seeing that beautiful spacecraft sitting right out of reach of ISS was pretty tough. But as we’ve talked about over the last few days, this is a really critical demonstration.”

Ultimately, the spacecraft was able to latch onto its port after about an hour-long delay.

Notably, the first attempt to send the Starliner on an orbital test run in late 2019 had to be cut short — taking the vehicle directly back to land rather than to an ISS docking — after software issues sent the vehicle off course. It took nearly two years of troubleshooting before the Starliner was ready to return to the launch pad. Then, an issue with sticky valves further delayed the capsule’s return to flight.

Despite its setbacks, NASA has stood by Boeing, which is one of two companies — the other being SpaceX — that the space agency tapped to build an astronaut-worthy spacecraft after the Space Shuttle Program retired in 2011. While even the space agency initially expected that Boeing, a decades-long partner of NASA’s, would beat SpaceX to the launch pad, Boeing is now two years behind its rival.

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft entered operation in 2020 and has flown five missions for NASA so far.

After this Starliner test mission concludes, NASA and Boeing will work through the data the spacecraft collected and attempt to reach an agreement that it’s ready to fly astronauts.

“We intended to learn a lot,” Boeing’s Starliner program manager Mark Nappi told reporters Friday. “We’re going to take that information and apply it in the development of our spacecraft. We are very satisfied by what we’ve learned how the team has reacted to it.”

NASA’s hope is that Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will give its human spaceflight program redundancy, meaning that if one spacecraft or the other enounters and issue and has to be grounded, it won’t affect NASA’s ability to get crew to the ISS.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#14 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu May 26, 2022 3:52 am

Touchdown! Boeing's Starliner returns to Earth from space station

https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner- ... ng-success

Boeing's new astronaut taxi has landed safely back on Earth, wrapping up its long-anticipated and crucial demonstration mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Starliner capsule landed at White Sands Space Harbor, part of the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range (WSRM) in New Mexico, today (May 25) at 6:49 p.m. EDT (2249 GMT). The touchdown brought Boeing's uncrewed Orbital Test Flight 2 (OFT-2) to a successful end.

Starliner lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V Rocket on the evening of May 19 and arrived at the ISS about 24 hours later. That was a huge milestone for Boeing, and one that the aerospace giant had tried to achieve once before.

Starliner launched on the original OFT in December 2019 but failed to rendezvous with the International Space Station as planned after suffering a series of software glitches. That previous mission also ended with a touchdown at the WSMR, albeit one that occurred sooner than expected. OFT-2 was Starliner's do-over, and a major hurdle to overcome in certifying the vehicle to carry crew.

Starliner undocked from the ISS today at 2:36 p.m. EDT (1836 GMT). At 6:05 p.m. EDT (2205 GMT), the capsule conducted a 58-second deorbit burn, which slowed its velocity by 285 mph (459 kph). Starliner detached from its service module a few minutes after the burn wrapped up and began its plunge through Earth's atmosphere at 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 GMT), hitting our planet's air at about 17 times the speed of sound.

At 6:44 p.m. EDT (1844 GMT), at just under five miles (9 kilometers) in altitude, Starliner jettisoned its forward heat shield and deployed two drogue parachutes, slowing the vehicle's descent considerably.

At an altitude of about 1.5 miles (2.4 km), the drogue chutes detached and Starliner's three main parachutes deployed, slowing Starliner to a manageable impact velocity. With about 3,000 feet (0.9 kilometers) to go, Starliner jettisoned its basal heat shield, exposing its airbags, which soon inflated to absorb the initial impact with the ground.

Terra firma touchdowns aren't the traditional norm for American orbital crew capsules; NASA's Apollo spacecraft and SpaceX's Dragon vehicle have both exclusively wrapped up their space missions with ocean splashdowns. (NASA's space shuttle orbiters — spane planes rather than capsules — were built for runway landings on terra firma; they sometimes came back to Earth at White Sands Space Harbor.)

NASA and Boeing identified four other potential landing sites leading up to Starliner's return, citing weather as the ultimate deciding factor. One of these alternatives was a different location within the WSMR, and the other sites were in Arizona, Utah and California.

But Starliner ended up landing exactly where and when it was supposed to, coming down within 0.3 miles (0.5 km) of its target, according to Boeing representatives(opens in new tab).

Though OFT-2 is now officially a success, Starliner did experience a few hiccups during the mission. For example, two of the thrusters on Starliner's service module failed during its orbital insertion burn, which occurred about 30 minutes after launch. A backup thruster quickly compensated for the malfunctions, allowing the mission to continue without incident.

Shortly after that incident, mission team members expressed confidence that the thruster failures would not affect the remainder of OFT-2. They also stated that determining a root cause would likely have to wait until Starliner's post-flight inspections.

If those inspections and other analyses go well, NASA could end up certifying Starliner for crewed flight, potentially paving the way for an astronaut-carrying test mission to the ISS in the near future.

"We are getting our crewed test vehicle ready to go by the end of the year," NASA human spaceflight chief Kathy Lueders said in a prelaunch press conference earlier this month.

Boeing signed a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Program in 2014. SpaceX inked a similar deal at the same time and has already launched four operational astronaut missions to the ISS with its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#15 Post by PHXPhlyer » Thu Aug 25, 2022 9:41 pm

Boeing's first astronaut flight delayed until next year for more fixes

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/boein ... more-fixes#

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Boeing’s first spaceflight with astronauts has been delayed until next year because of repairs that need to be made to the capsule following its last test flight.

Liftoff of the Starliner capsule with a pair of NASA test pilots is now scheduled for February, officials announced Thursday. They had hoped to launch it by year's end.

Boeing has launched Starliner twice without a crew, most recently in May. The capsule managed to dock with the International Space Station on the second go-around, despite thruster and other problems. Boeing program manager Mark Nappi said these issues need to be fixed before two NASA astronauts climb aboard, as early as February.

Some of the thruster trouble is believed to have been caused by debris. Because that part of the capsule was ditched before touchdown, "we will never know exactly what was the issue," Nappi told reporters.

Boeing already was trailing SpaceX, NASA's other contracted taxi service, by the time the Starliner made its debut in 2019. The capsule's initial test flight with a mannequin was cut short by a string of software problems, prompting this year's do-over.


SpaceX is gearing up for its sixth crew flight for NASA. Liftoff has been bumped to the beginning of October because of all the traffic at the space station.

NASA's space station program manager, Joel Montalbano, said Boeing will have priority in February.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#16 Post by PHXPhlyer » Tue Aug 08, 2023 3:49 pm

Boeing delays manned spaceflight again, problems caught in final review
NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX nearly a decade ago to deliver astronauts to and from the space station, but so far only SpaceX has launched any passengers.

https://www.12news.com/article/news/nat ... 058b36ad03

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Already running years behind, Boeing’s first astronaut flight is now off until at least next March.

Problems with the parachute lines and flammable tape surfaced during final reviews in late spring, ahead of what should have been a July launch for the Starliner capsule. Boeing said Monday that it should be done removing the tape in the coming weeks. But a redesigned parachute system won’t be ready until December.

If a parachute drop test goes well late this year, company officials said the spacecraft should be ready to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station as early as March. Starliner’s first crew flight will need to fit around other space station traffic, however, so it’s too early to set even a tentative date, according to officials.

To ensure there are no other problems, NASA and Boeing are conducting independent reviews.

Boeing program manager Mark Nappi said technicians are almost halfway done peeling off flammable tape that was used to protect capsule wiring. Tape that cannot be removed from vulnerable spots will be covered with a protective coating.

The original guidelines for usage of the tape were confusing, according to company and NASA officials, but they later determined it could not be used in some areas because it was flammable.

The parachute issue will take longer to resolve. Part of the parachute lines known as soft links did not meet safety standards, having gotten past improper testing years ago. A new, more robust design will be incorporated into upgraded parachutes already in the works.

“There’s always the mystery of something else that can pop up,” Nappi told reporters. But given the current situation, “we have a pretty good schedule laid out” to launch as early as March.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX nearly a decade ago to deliver astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX is now three years into its taxi service. Boeing has only had a pair of Starliner space test flights with no one aboard.

NASA said it still wants two competing crew launchers, even as the projected 2030 end of the space station program draws ever closer. The goal is to fly one Boeing and one SpaceX crew flight each year.

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Re: Bad News for Boeing Starliner

#17 Post by OFSO » Sat Aug 12, 2023 9:48 am

And from a different source Back in June, Boeing announced that the crewed launch of its many-billion-dollar Starliner — a privately-built spacecraft that's long been billed as a competitor to SpaceX's growing arsenal, but particularly its astronaut-launching Crew Dragon — had been delayed yet again, this time due to another round of hardware issues.


As a result, Boeing said on Monday, Starliner won't launch until March 2024 at the earliest. And NASA, which has an ungodly amount of cash vested into the still-unrealized crewed craft, will be separately investigating its failures (which, this time, are specifically related to its parachutes' "soft link" joints system and, uh, flammable tape lining the craft's interior, according to Space.com.) Per Ars Technica, Boeing is now facing three separate NASA inquiries as it eyes a hopeful 2024 test.

So far the project is 1.1 billion dollars over budget.....

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