Starliner return delayed until after ground thruster tests are completed and analyzed
Starliner docked during the unmanned demo
flight in May 2022
According the NASA and Boeing officials yesterday, they are in the process of doing ground thruster tests to emulate the problems that occurred on the thrusters during docking procedures to ISS in early June, and will not decide on a return date for Starliner until after those tests are completed and analyzed, expected sometime in the next two weeks.
It appears some of the ground tests were delayed slightly due to the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Texas.
It is very important to note that the astronauts are not “stranded” on the station, as a lot of news organizations are still claiming. The thrusters on Starliner that failed are part of the service module, which will not return to Earth when the astronauts come home on the the capsule. They therefore want to do as much research as possible beforehand in order to determine the cause of the failures in order to prevent them on future capsule flights. For example, the ground tests are first attempting to duplicate precisely what happened during docking, and will then do tests attempting to duplicate what will happen during de-orbit.
In the meantime, they appear to have no doubt that they can use Starliner for return, no matter what. At the moment only one thruster appears out-of-commission, and none of the thrusters that failed during docking are used for the de-orbit burn. They are only used for orientation, and the capsule has ample redundancy for this function sufficient for de-orbit.
In addition, it is a good thing for them to extend Starliner’s total flight time. I suspect even if everything had worked as planned they would have extended this mission as they have. This allows them to prove out the in-space operation of the capsule and service module. So far it appears that operation has been excellent, which is one reason they are willing to delay the return to do the ground tests.
Overall, my impression is that the situation is entirely under control, and in fact NASA is reasonably satisfied with the capsule’s operation in general. It appears that the agency will likely have no problem in flying future manned missions with Starliner, though it will want the thruster issue solved beforehand.
As for Boeing, these problems have stained its reputation further, and have likely made it much more difficult to sell future capsule flights to other customers. I would say however that after listening to the last few press briefings it seems to me that Boeing’s manned space division is now doing the proper due diligence it should have done before. For example, the thruster problems appear to be related to overheating during use, which is a very fixable issue.
These facts actually makes me more confident in the capsule, and future potential customers should do the same review themselves.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
Starliner docked during the unmanned demo
flight in May 2022
According the NASA and Boeing officials yesterday, they are in the process of doing ground thruster tests to emulate the problems that occurred on the thrusters during docking procedures to ISS in early June, and will not decide on a return date for Starliner until after those tests are completed and analyzed, expected sometime in the next two weeks.
It appears some of the ground tests were delayed slightly due to the arrival of Hurricane Beryl in Texas.
It is very important to note that the astronauts are not “stranded” on the station, as a lot of news organizations are still claiming. The thrusters on Starliner that failed are part of the service module, which will not return to Earth when the astronauts come home on the the capsule. They therefore want to do as much research as possible beforehand in order to determine the cause of the failures in order to prevent them on future capsule flights. For example, the ground tests are first attempting to duplicate precisely what happened during docking, and will then do tests attempting to duplicate what will happen during de-orbit.
In the meantime, they appear to have no doubt that they can use Starliner for return, no matter what. At the moment only one thruster appears out-of-commission, and none of the thrusters that failed during docking are used for the de-orbit burn. They are only used for orientation, and the capsule has ample redundancy for this function sufficient for de-orbit.
In addition, it is a good thing for them to extend Starliner’s total flight time. I suspect even if everything had worked as planned they would have extended this mission as they have. This allows them to prove out the in-space operation of the capsule and service module. So far it appears that operation has been excellent, which is one reason they are willing to delay the return to do the ground tests.
Overall, my impression is that the situation is entirely under control, and in fact NASA is reasonably satisfied with the capsule’s operation in general. It appears that the agency will likely have no problem in flying future manned missions with Starliner, though it will want the thruster issue solved beforehand.
As for Boeing, these problems have stained its reputation further, and have likely made it much more difficult to sell future capsule flights to other customers. I would say however that after listening to the last few press briefings it seems to me that Boeing’s manned space division is now doing the proper due diligence it should have done before. For example, the thruster problems appear to be related to overheating during use, which is a very fixable issue.
These facts actually makes me more confident in the capsule, and future potential customers should do the same review themselves.
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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
They’re making progress, that’s good.
Jeff Bezos is also says he will dedicate more time to his big blue by moving nearer to Cape Canaveral. it also saves him $600 million in taxes with his recent stock sale of 8.5 billion for spending money.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68355811
“And did they ever return…”
I wonder if there may be any non-technical reasons for the delay.
Those two astronauts could write a hell of a tell-all book now that anti-compete rules and such were struck down. Having them stay longer could thus be a form of spin?
Because they didn’t set a return date at the press conference, a friend of mine continues to joke that they are still stranded in space. He is a private pilot and knows that the news reports are wrong about this,. The point is: It seems to be entertaining to tease about Boeing’s recent poor performance. I suppose that when the U.S. looks to be falling behind in aviation manufacturing proficiency, you have to either laugh or cry.
With even more wheels falling off U.S. airliners, it seems proficiency has taken a back seat to political philosophy, sort of like Lysenkoism. Boeing has moved its headquarters very close to America’s political center, so it seems politics have become more important to them than engineering.
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/todays-blacklisted-american-long-time-scholar-banned-for-questioning-gender-fluidity/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysenkoism
__________
From the conference, it sounds as though the thrusters were used more than expected — more often than designed — and this may have resulted in higher temperatures than expected and higher temperatures than designed for, causing unexpected behavior. Boeing seems to be thinking about modifying methods (i.e. frequency of use) for future flights.
These are the kinds of things that are discovered on early flights.
“Reality betrays us all.” — Benjamin Hoffman, the movie Hoffman, written by Ernest Gebler
The design is one thing, development shows where changes must be made, but flight testing shows the reality. Right now, reality is betraying Boeing. This is why they report that they are adding to their engineering database: to “fix these problems once and for all.”
Reports are that reality has also betrayed the ESA when Ariane 6’s auxiliary propulsion unit failed to work for a second upper stage engine relight (third ignition), leaving the upper stage in orbit and a couple of payloads not released.
https://behindtheblack.com/behind-the-black/points-of-information/europe-at-last-launches-ariane-6/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgTbThZg6Zg#t=616 (8 minutes: Scott Manley, ‘Ariane 6 Mostly successful; What Went Wrong’)
The point being: The darnedest things go wrong on rockets and spacecraft.