Starliner schedule shapes up
The competition heats up: The schedule and launch plans for Boeing’s manned Starliner spacecraft are now becoming solidified.
For Boeing, Starliner will first launch on an uncrewed test flight to the Station via the “Boe-OFT” mission in April or May, 2017 – on a 30 day mission, ending with a parachute-assisted return. Should all go to plan, the second mission will involve a crew on a mission designated “Boe-CFT”, launching sometime between July and September, 2017, on a 14-day mission to the ISS.
The article also outlines the launch procedures Boeing intends to follow, some determined by the company and some by NASA’s complex safety rules. One interesting tidbit about Starliner revealed here that I was unaware of previously is that the capsule is made of separate top and bottom units that are only fitted together late in the launch process, allowing for easier access.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The competition heats up: The schedule and launch plans for Boeing’s manned Starliner spacecraft are now becoming solidified.
For Boeing, Starliner will first launch on an uncrewed test flight to the Station via the “Boe-OFT” mission in April or May, 2017 – on a 30 day mission, ending with a parachute-assisted return. Should all go to plan, the second mission will involve a crew on a mission designated “Boe-CFT”, launching sometime between July and September, 2017, on a 14-day mission to the ISS.
The article also outlines the launch procedures Boeing intends to follow, some determined by the company and some by NASA’s complex safety rules. One interesting tidbit about Starliner revealed here that I was unaware of previously is that the capsule is made of separate top and bottom units that are only fitted together late in the launch process, allowing for easier access.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Would this make reusing the capsule easier? Just pop off the bottom part and hook up a new one. Any damage to the heat shield wouldn’t ruin the whole capsule or require waiting for the heatshield to be refurbished.
If I read it right, they are able to access the various components in the bottom section (thrusters, electronics, batteries, tanks, etc.) for easy refurbishment or replacement. Many of these are located outside the pressurized section, so removing the conical hull would allow easy access to these
My guess is that the heat shield is bolted through the inside of the bottom section, and removing the conical hull almost certainly helps access these bolts.
While working on the bottom section, the upper section can be refurbished (equipment/supply lockers, control panels, parachutes, etc.). Turnaround time can be reduced through ease of access and by working on both sections simultaneously.
The cost to this process seems to be minor, as it is probably mostly the time spent disassembling and reassembling the two sections and the time spent verifying that they are properly airtight and properly interacting after reassembly. I would guess that this takes little more than four shifts, but the additional access probably saves dozens of shifts worth of time spent crawling all over each other.
Wodun probably has the right idea. If one section takes longer to refurbish, then it can be replaced by another section that has already been finished. That way you may only need, for instance, two tops and three or five bottoms.