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.
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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.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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.