Boeing Co. will have to wait for a do-over of a crucial spaceflight test, as the company and NASA decided to stand down from a possible Wednesday launch of the CST-100 Starliner after halting an initial attempt the previous day.<\/p>\n
Engineering teams are examining \u201cunexpected valve position indications\u201d detected during Tuesday\u2019s attempt to launch the uncrewed mission from Florida to the International Space Station. Not all valves were in the proper configuration, so the countdown was halted.<\/p>\n
While a number of potential causes including software have been ruled out, \u201cadditional time is needed to complete the assessment,\u201d NASA said in a blog post.<\/p>\n
\u201cNASA and Boeing will take whatever time is necessary to ensure Starliner is ready for its important uncrewed flight test to the space station and will look for the next available opportunity after resolution of the issue,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner atop a United Launch Alliance rocket<\/p>\n
Boeing is ponying up its own funds to take a second crack at the test after a software glitch caused the Starliner to burn too much propellant during a December 2019 flight, precluding a planned docking with the space station. The failure hammered Boeing\u2019s reputation for engineering prowess just as the company was trying to restore its name following two deadly crashes of its best-selling 737 Max jet that were linked to flawed flight-control software.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s shares rose 1.7% to $229.09 in New York on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The Starliner\u2019s second flight follows extensive software repairs. During the first mission, Boeing found and fixed a second software flaw that would have affected thruster separation and a disposal burn as the vehicle prepared for re-entry into the atmosphere. A review panel concluded that either of the two faults could have led to the spacecraft\u2019s loss.<\/p>\n
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration subsequently reviewed Boeing\u2019s safety culture and stepped up oversight of the company\u2019s software engineering. NASA and Boeing ruled out software as the source of this week\u2019s glitch.<\/p>\n
Boeing\u2019s travails slowed the progress of NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program, which relies on two private-sector companies to ferry astronauts. The other contractor, Elon Musk\u2019s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has flown 10 astronauts to the space station in three crew flights, most recently in April. SpaceX\u2019s next astronaut mission is scheduled for Oct. 31.<\/p>\n
Dual Transport
\nThe second Starliner mission is on Boeing\u2019s dime, since the Chicago-based company announced a $410 million charge last year to cover the costs of another flight attempt. The voyage to the space station is expected to take about 24 hours. If successful, it will serve as a prelude for Boeing to carry astronauts as soon as this year.<\/p>\n
If Boeing pulls off a docking this week, the Starliner would join a SpaceX Dragon vehicle currently attached to the ISS.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited to have another vehicle capability,\u201d Joel Montalbano, NASA\u2019s space station manager, said at a news conference last week. \u201cThis will be the first time we have two U.S.-provided vehicles on board.\u201d<\/p>\n
A dual-transport arrangement \u201cadds to the robustness of the space station program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The test flight\u2019s focus will be on the Starliner\u2019s approach and docking capabilities, and how its communications and data-transfer systems perform with the space station. While no people will be on board, the commander\u2019s seat will be occupied by an anthropometric test device called \u201cRosie the Rocketeer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Starliner will carry more than 400 pounds (180 kilograms) of NASA cargo and return more than 550 pounds to Earth, according to a launch update last week. The materials include several science investigations performed aboard the station.<\/p>\n
Boeing\u2019s previous flight attempt went awry shortly after the Starliner reached space, and was cut short to only 48 hours.<\/p>\n
John Vollmer, Boeing\u2019s commercial crew program manager, said the company had performed \u201cliterally thousands of hours\u201d of work on mission simulations for the flight. The craft is configured as closely to a crewed flight as possible.<\/p>\n
NASA and Boeing are working to launch a test flight with astronauts before year-end. Data gleaned from this week\u2019s Starliner test will figure heavily into that schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to make the Starliner for this mission as close to a crewed vehicle as we could,\u201d Vollmer said at the news conference last week. The spacecraft can carry as many as seven people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Boeing Co. will have to wait for a do-over of a crucial spaceflight test, as the company and NASA decided to stand down from a possible Wednesday launch of the CST-100 Starliner after halting an initial attempt the previous day. Engineering teams are examining \u201cunexpected valve position indications\u201d detected during Tuesday\u2019s attempt to launch the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n