Starliner will spend a few more days in space

Well, the Boeing Starliner’s triumphant ascent to the sky for its first crewed test flight may not have marked the end of the spacecraft’s problems.

When Starliner finally launched with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board on June 5, the two men were expected to spend about nine days on the International Space Station before returning home.

However, the capsule, nicknamed “Calypso” by Williams and Wilmore, will stay on the ISS for 17 days, almost twice as long as initially planned. Oddly enough, for anyone who has followed the Starliner saga of flaws and delays, the astronauts are being given an extended stay so they can conduct additional tests on the spacecraft, NASA officials announced.

The tests will include firing the capsule’s seven thrusters, checking cabin temperature, among other assessments, while astronauts and those on the ground “finalize departure planning and operations.”

Granted, this all seems pretty reasonable on the surface, but Starliner doesn’t have the best track record so far, as we’ve noted previously. Starliner is years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.

In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to build a spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from the ISS and any other destination in low Earth orbit, the first test flight in crew taking place in 2017.

Things didn’t exactly go as planned. While SpaceX, the other company awarded a commercial crewed contract, commissioned its Dragon capsule in 2020, Starliner did not successfully complete its first uncrewed test mission until 2022. SpaceX conducted a dozen crewed launches since 2020 and will almost certainly have accomplished more before Starliner begins flying its six contracted missions.

Meanwhile, Starliner has already cost Boeing $1.5 billion while NASA footed the bill for nearly $5 billion, and all that money has failed to create a perfect, space-ready vehicle. ‘space.

In fact, the project has been plagued by malfunctions, from a computer software glitch during the first uncrewed test flight in 2019 that prevented the vehicle from docking with the ISS to the discovery last summer that flammable insulating tape had been used in the crew cabin. , delaying the crewed flight test by a year.

Last month saw further delays and two missions canceled after the 172-foot-tall spacecraft ended up on the launch pad at the Cape Canaveral space station, while other problems discovered, notably a small helium leak. And the problems didn’t stop arising when the spacecraft arrived in low Earth orbit.

Ultimately, when evaluating the helium leak, engineers concluded that a leak in the Starliner’s helium propulsion system would not pose a problem. Now that’s what they’re sticking to even though Starliner has caused four additional helium leaks since reaching the ISS. Starliner has more than enough helium in its tanks and “has enough margin to support the return trip,” NASA officials said.

In addition to this, another propulsion system problem arose when Starliner docked with the ISS. Namely, five of the spacecraft’s 28 thrusters were not firing up to allow the spacecraft to make the movements necessary to connect it to the ISS. Boeing brought four back online, allowing the spacecraft to dock, but NASA said it would conduct hot-fire tests where it would briefly fire seven of the eight thrusters near its tail to ensure that They are in working order before Starliner heads back with its crew.

NASA will also conduct tests to ensure Starliner can be used safely as an emergency shelter from the ISS, with NASA officials noting that “the spacecraft remains cleared for return-to-world scenarios.” emergency of the crew within the framework of flight rules”.

On June 21, once the tests are completed, Williams and Wilmore will begin their journey back to Earth aboard the Starliner. Fingers crossed, this part, at least, will go smoothly.