NASA pushes decision on bringing crew back in Starliner to the end of August
- Reference: 1723732806
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/08/15/nasa_starliner_decision_end_august/
- Source link:
The [1]briefing , which did not feature any Boeing personnel, hinted at the turmoil behind the scenes at the US space agency as staffers grapple with the problem of Starliner's problematic thrusters amid the knowledge that a proven and operational spacecraft, in the form of the Crew Dragon, could be pressed into service.
The question for engineers and managers is which option would pose less risk for the crew.
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The wrangling means a decision on the transport method that the Starliner crew, Butch Wilmore and Suni William, will take for their trip back to Earth has been delayed once again, likely to the week after next.
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During the briefing, it was noted that factors including docking port availability and the use of International Space Station (ISS) consumables meant that the last week of August would be the point where a decision – whether Wilmore and Williams become part of Crew-9 or return on Starliner -would have to be made.
For context, Boeing's Starliner has been cleared for crew return in an emergency. However, NASA is still weighing up whether it would be riskier to use it for a nominal return or simply wait for the next Crew Dragon.
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Returning the Starliner crew on the Crew-8 capsule, currently docked to the ISS, hasn't been seriously considered as part of a nominal flight plan. However, NASA did explain that should a contingency event happen after Starliner left the ISS in uncrewed mode and before the Crew-9 spacecraft arrived, Wilmore and Williams would have to return to Earth unsuited. While the suits are, in theory, not required should the capsule maintain pressure during reentry, it is one more risk for NASA to balance.
The suits are not interchangeable: Boeing suits can't be used in a SpaceX vehicle and vice-versa. SpaceX suits for the Starliner crew would arrive with Crew-9.
[6]NASA mulls using SpaceX in 2025 to rescue Starliner pilots stuck on space station
[7]NASA pushes back missions to the ISS to buy time for Starliner analysis
[8]Freighter bound for the ISS suffers engine abort
[9]Report slams Boeing and NASA over shoddy quality that's delayed SLS blastoff
There's an obvious comment to be made about lessons learned from the infamous [10]Apollo 13 incident, where the Command Module's cartridges for the carbon dioxide scrubber had to be adapted for the Lunar Module, but there are doubtless very good technical reasons why SpaceX and Boeing went different ways with their suit design.
We'd welcome your explanations in the comments below.
NASA also indicated that if the Calamity Capsule's crewed flight test ended with an uncrewed landing, it wouldn't count as a mishap since NASA would have intervened and decided to remove the crew.
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Right now, the primary plan remains to return the Starliner crew to Earth as planned using Boeing's spacecraft. However, as NASA engineers grapple with explaining the thruster issues, the go / no-go decision continues to move backward.
There is, it seems, finally an end in sight to the uncertainty. ®
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/07/nasa_spacex_starliner_boeing/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/07/nasa_pushes_back_iss_missions/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/05/freighter_bound_for_iss_engine_abort/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/09/nasa_boeing_sls/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/14/apollo_13_part_2/
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[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: It's a political decision, not tech/safety
A rapid unscheduled disassembly would also kill starliner, plus two astronauts. Hopefully the decision can be made untainted by politics. The priority must be avoiding the rapid disassembly of astronauts. Icon because Boeing QA.
I assume the suits aren't suitable because of the lack of a recognized sizing standard. L, XL and XXL shirts and jackets can fit me depending on various factors including decade of manufacture, country of manufacture and just how hip the manufacturer thinks they are; if they are very hip they'll have their own sizing system and, usually, not make anything bigger than a 40" chest. I've recently seen trousers in S,M, L, XL, ffs. Even when there is a size in inches in some cases it means "to fit a 44" chest" and in others it means "the jacket measures 44" chest". It's a real mess and maybe now, having put lives at risk, the manufacturers will get together and subscribe to an international sizing standard.
Suit SL != Capsule Dragon
Regarding suits: It is likely as simple as the life support and communications connections to join suits to capsules are specific to the (different manufacturer's) capsules and likely also the suit is tailored to the seat and harness points (I seem to recall each suit is specific to the wearer, too - not one size fits all). It isn't like there is (yet) a need for an RFC, ISO, or BS standard for life-support couplings... or is there?
Re: Suit SL != Capsule Dragon
Need to move to something like isofix
All child car seats / buggies / push chairs can be whatever they like, and look however they like, but isofix is a must and ensures they fit into a car and safely.
Surely a mic / oxygen feed / any other connection would use something standard
Boeing suits can't be used in a SpaceX vehicle and vice-versa.
Back when Apollo 13 hit a little difficulty, one problem was that the LEM and command module air filters had different fittings (round vs square). That was 54 years ago. Seems like NASA still hasn't noticed interoperability is A Good Thing. Maybe IETF ought to have a word.
muttiny onboard
I hope, for their sakes, that any astronaut scheduled to board the starliner tells nasa, in no uncvertain terms, but very diplomatically, they are NOT entering the capsule, and deal with it.
is not like there is a police force or security guards onboard the station. Also, these peole are very capable, and can find jobs elsewhere literaly anywhere in the world.
It's a political decision, not tech/safety
If they go the Dragon route then that effectively kills Starliner. NASA will be uncomfortable with that because they then only have one route to ISS (forget the Russians at this point) and Boeing are already desperately saying Starliner is safe. However I don't see how Starliner can come back from this anyway. It will need considerable re-work before they try again and by that time the ISS is headed for the Pacific Scrapyard.