Boeing completes full series of static hot fire engine burns on Starliner while docked to ISS
Boeing announced today that engineers have successfully completed a full series of static hot fire engine burns testing all of Starliner’s attitude thrusters while still dockecd to ISS.
The one-pulse firings were designed to confirm the performance of each thruster. Aft-facing thrusters were fired for 1.2 seconds and all others for .40 seconds. Between each firing, the team reviewed real-time data and all thrusters performed at peak thrust rating values, ranging from 97-102%. The helium system also remained stable. Additionally, an RCS oxidizer isolation valve that was not fully seated previously, was cycled several times during today’s testing and is now operating normally.
This is the second time the spacecraft has been hot fired successfully while docked, an integrated operation the station and Starliner teams will also conduct during future long-duration missions.
This result is not a surprise, based on the information provided during the most recent briefing. It confirms the data obtained during previous hot fire tests both on a Starliner on the ground and the Starliner docked to ISS. Not only does it appear that Boeing has enough information to fix this problem so it does not occur again, it has proven unequivocally that these thrusters as well as the helium leaks inside the thruster systems pose no unusual risk for a return in the capsule.
NASA and Boeing have a planned review of these results this coming week, when we should expect them to name a return date, likely sometime in the first two weeks of August.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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
Boeing announced today that engineers have successfully completed a full series of static hot fire engine burns testing all of Starliner’s attitude thrusters while still dockecd to ISS.
The one-pulse firings were designed to confirm the performance of each thruster. Aft-facing thrusters were fired for 1.2 seconds and all others for .40 seconds. Between each firing, the team reviewed real-time data and all thrusters performed at peak thrust rating values, ranging from 97-102%. The helium system also remained stable. Additionally, an RCS oxidizer isolation valve that was not fully seated previously, was cycled several times during today’s testing and is now operating normally.
This is the second time the spacecraft has been hot fired successfully while docked, an integrated operation the station and Starliner teams will also conduct during future long-duration missions.
This result is not a surprise, based on the information provided during the most recent briefing. It confirms the data obtained during previous hot fire tests both on a Starliner on the ground and the Starliner docked to ISS. Not only does it appear that Boeing has enough information to fix this problem so it does not occur again, it has proven unequivocally that these thrusters as well as the helium leaks inside the thruster systems pose no unusual risk for a return in the capsule.
NASA and Boeing have a planned review of these results this coming week, when we should expect them to name a return date, likely sometime in the first two weeks of August.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
Does it feel to anyone else here that it is as if someone is trying to write a close to the era of human spaceflight?
I am not talking Old Space vs NewSpace..but a growing undercurrent.
Kids like rockets more than trucks–so big truck hate came first
Good on them for investigating the thrusters and fully understanding the problem. Their hazard analysis and risk assessment are validated and undoubtedly NASA will deem it safe to bring two people home.
But before it wasn’t. Before there was enough doubt and pull at NASA to slow their roll and hold on while the tests were conducted. They would have stuck to the original timetable if it was safe to do so.
The thrusters weren’t perfect last flight. The time for Boeing to do all this was before astronauts were involved. Before.
I wonder who picked up the tab for all this testing.
John wrote: “They would have stuck to the original timetable if it was safe to do so.”
Not necessarily. The first Dragon manned test flight stayed longer than the original stated plan. There was an option for an extended stay, and the option was exercised. Starliner had the same option, and it was exercised. The differences were: 1) the extended stay option was not announced as prominently, and 2) the stated reason for the extension was to test the thrusters. The propaganda media used the extension as an excuse to create a drama that did not exist.
“The thrusters weren’t perfect last flight. The time for Boeing to do all this was before astronauts were involved. Before.”
I suspect that both Boeing and NASA had believed that they understood the thrusters by the end of the previous flight. I’ve been involved in tests that took us a few times to get it to work. Sometimes the engineers don’t realize just how little they understand their design. There is a bias that they know how it will work, that is why they design it that way, but the reality can be quite different.
“Reality betrays us all.” — Benjamin Hoffman, from the movie Hoffman.
“I wonder who picked up the tab for all this testing.”
It is a fixed-price contract, so the cost belongs to Boeing. They may not have to pay NASA salaries, and Boeing is paying its own employees anyway, but facility use, other test expenses, and any consultants they may have hired would be on Boeing. Most likely this was not a terribly expensive problem, and I don’t expect it to become a write-off on the company’s annual report.
I’m looking forward to Starliner being completely certified as operational. With luck, NASA will not be the only one flying on Starliner.
I wrote: “Most likely this was not a terribly expensive problem, and I don’t expect it to become a write-off on the company’s annual report.”
From the July 31 Quicklinks ( https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/july-31-2024-quick-space-links/ ), on of the Boeing links:
https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000012927/000001292724000055/ba-20240630.htm
Page 19:
I’m not sure what part of that $125 million belongs to the propulsion system anomalies and what is part of the ongoing losses over the second quarter. They are anticipating possible future losses, too. Since they are reporting the anomaly testing as a loss, their will undoubtedly be losses for July and whatever part of August they remain in orbit. I do not think the entire $125 million is due to the anomaly, because that would suggest that: 1) the July losses due to the anomaly would be similar in magnitude, and 2) the anomaly is costing them $5 million per day.
However, if these are more general costs associated with the overall delay in launching the test flight, the 65 days of the quarter before the launch would mean that Boeing has been losing around $2 million per day on this contract. The average daily loss over the second quarter is $1⅓ million per day. I think the question is: With this flight, have the delays and the associated write-offs ended, and they are now back on track to Starliner certification?