NASA reschedules Boeing's first crewed Starliner flight for mid-April 2024
- Reference: 1697178790
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/10/13/nasa_boeing_starlinker/
- Source link:
The mission – dubbed Crew Flight Test (CFT) – will see test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni William travel to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to try out Boeing's reusable capsule. The Starliner will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and transport the astronauts on an eight-day trip.
In 2014 NASA's Commercial Crew Program contracted Boeing and SpaceX to build spacecraft for transport to and from the ISS. Both firms struggled with multiple setbacks that [1]delayed their first crewed test flights for years.
[2]
SpaceX is up and running, having first launched astronauts into space in 2020, and is due to fly its eighth mission in February next year.
[3]
[4]
Starliner, however, is yet to fly – but is [5]eating a billion-dollar hole in Boeing's accounts.
In August, Boeing admitted its Starliner probe wouldn't be ready until March 2024. A spokesperson from the aeronautics giant said the latest update for the CFT target launch in mid-April was decided by NASA.
[6]
"We previously stated that we plan to have the spacecraft ready for flight by March 2024, but NASA determines when we will actually launch. Due to traffic at ISS and range availability, NASA has determined that our opportunity for launch will be no earlier than April. This does not indicate a delay in the program as we remain on schedule to have the vehicle ready in March," the spokesperson told The Register .
[7]Boeing abandons plans for crewed Starliner flight in 2023
[8]This ain't Boeing very well: Starliner's first crewed flight canceled yet again
[9]Boeing's first-ever crewed mission in Starliner ISS spacecraft delayed to late July
[10]Boeing Starliner's 1st crewed trip to the ISS delayed again over battery overheating risk
In an August [11]teleconference , NASA and Boeing flagged removal of flammable tape used on the spacecraft and redesign of its parachute system as two top areas of concern. Only half of the tape was gone by August, and engineers will have to cover up the remainder with another material in areas where it is too difficult to remove.
Meanwhile, the mechanism that connects the parachute to the capsule – needed to slow the Starliner's speed so it can safely land on Earth – has had to be redesigned after it broke apart in tests. The issue has plagued Boeing for a while, and was one of the main reasons it had to push back its first-ever crewed flight back in June.
In another parachute test back in 2019, only two out of three canopies deployed successfully. At the time, Boeing [12]insisted that its Starliner was still "acceptable for the test parameters and crew safety" despite the anomaly. Tell that to the crew.
Other issues engineers have had to fix include [13]dodgy thrusters and lowering the risk of batteries [14]overheating .
[15]
"NASA will provide an updated status of CFT readiness as more information becomes available," the space agency [16]confirmed in a statement. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2018/12/11/space_round_up/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZSkVQXFaZYedwohOt0gYAwAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZSkVQXFaZYedwohOt0gYAwAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZSkVQXFaZYedwohOt0gYAwAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/27/starliner_losses_closing_in_on/
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZSkVQXFaZYedwohOt0gYAwAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/08/boeing_abandons_plans_for_crewed/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/boeing_starliner_crewed_flight_delay/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/30/boeing_crewed_mission_testing_delay/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/26/boeing_starliner_iss_delay/
[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqPslXCL8f0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2019/11/06/space_roundup/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/20/boeing_starliner/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/26/boeing_starliner_iss_delay/
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZSkVQXFaZYedwohOt0gYAwAAAA0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/10/12/nasa-updates-commercial-crew-planning-manifest/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Normal
Indeed. SpaceX was actually developing an entire launch stack, including engines though. Boeing is using mostly existing COTS components and only developing a capsule and service module. Their lack of progress and continuing problems is absolutely baffling even for a shit tier company like Boeing is nowadays.
Come on ....
.... it's not like it's brain surgery!
Intriguing....
>>engineers will have to cover up the remainder with another material in areas where it is too difficult to remove
I am finding it hard to imagine somewhere that the flammable tape is too difficult to remove yet possible to effectively cover up... but then I am not a brian scientist nor a rocket surgeon.
Re: Intriguing....
"but then I am not a brian scientist..."
Is that a scientist of the Blessed variety?
Re: Intriguing....
He's not blessed, he's a very naughty scientist.
Re: Intriguing....
Brian Blessed would just sort it right out, Prince Vultan style (or by punching a polar bear, whichever was at hand)
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Cutting corners?
Such basic errors as using flammable tape and designing a parachute coupling that breaks under representative load fill me with confidence.
I appreciate that hindsight is always 20-20 but I do have to wonder what other bad choices are waiting to surface in Boing's (let's hope that at worst it goes 'boing') design. Has anyone checked the computer-assisted flight controls yet?
Something goes wrong at SpaceX they say "oh dear, but we can learn from that." The parachutes fail to open and Boeing says "It's fine. Nothing to see here. Move along."
I might get into a Crew Dragon. I certainly wouldn't get into a Starliner.
Re: Cutting corners?
"Such basic errors as using flammable tape"
Not sure I'd describe it as such, iirc, the particular tape involved has been used across the industry, without any problems previously being identified. They discovered, while testing the fire extinguishing system, that the glue could ignite if it came into direct contact with an uninsulated (e.g. damaged) electric wire.
Stick Boeing's CEO and CFO in the capsule for the maiden flight - that way you'll be sure that it'll stay in one piece (and if it doesn't, you'll know just how much those two have pissed off the engineering team).
I’d put them in it, and launch it now. That way Boeing have a chance of getting competent new leadership, a sanguine example of the dangers of "value engineering" and cam build the next capsule properly. If they launch on November 5th, we can all get free fireworks too…
Was the crewselection by drawing straws?
Normal
Both firms struggled with multiple setbacks that delayed their first crewed test flights for years.
If a project doesn't experience setbacks and delays, then is probably a project not worth doing.