NASA Commercial Crew (CCtCap) test milestones

[DocM]

More Boeing Starliner follies...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DocM]

Another Starliner OFT-2 delay

 

 

[DocM]

Crew-1 docking port relocation (NASA TV stream)

 

Crew-1 was at Harmony Forward, the arrival docking port. Crew-2 launches April 22, so Crew-1 had to move. It'll reside at the Zenith docking port until it leaves for Earth ~April 28, then this summer Cargo Dragon CRS-22 will dock at Zenith so the robotic arm can reach into its Trunk (CRS-22 will deliver a partial set of new solar arrays for ISS.)

 

 

[DocM]

Boeing's Starliner OFT-2 has been delayed, again. July or August, minimum.

 

CLEARLY, a broke design.

 

 

 

[IsItPluggedIn]

With Starliners Crew test flight not likely till 2022 and Dragon Crew-4 due in early 2022, if there are any further delay in Starliner, we may see Dragon complete its 6  operational flights before Starliner gets its first.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/it-now-seems-likely-that-starliner-will-not-launch-crew-until-early-2022/

 

Although it could work out that SpaceX does its 6, then Boeing does their 6, however that is not what NASA wanted, to ensure they keep both vehicles flying.

[DocM]

9 hours ago, IsItPluggedIn said:

With Starliners Crew test flight not likely till 2022 and Dragon Crew-4 due in early 2022, if there are any further delay in Starliner, we may see Dragon complete its 6  operational flights before Starliner gets its first.

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/04/it-now-seems-likely-that-starliner-will-not-launch-crew-until-early-2022/

 

Although it could work out that SpaceX does its 6, then Boeing does their 6, however that is not what NASA wanted, to ensure they keep both vehicles flying.

 

The lack of specific updates from Boeing isn't exactly encouraging either. General statements don't cut it. 

 

Also not encouraging is Boeing only building 3  Starliners with Vehicle 1 being retired already; only 2 active in their "fleet." SpaceX will have 5-6* Crew Dragon vehicles minimum, with several more Cargo Dragon 2's that may be upgradable if needed.

 

*depends on if the In Flight Abort test vehicle is upgraded to flight status, which is unknown.

[IsItPluggedIn]

Yeah I foresee Boeing asking NASA for more money to "maintain capability" soon. I hope they just give the money to Sierra Navada instead

[DocM]

Crew-3

 

New Crew Dragon (there are three new Crew Dragons and one Cargo Dragon on the production line)

 

Booster B1067.2

 

Looking like late October

 

Mission patch

 

[DocM]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/07/08/dragon-undocking-planned-thursday-crew-focuses-on-space-research/

 

Quote

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, July 21, for Crew Dragon Endeavour’s International Space Station port relocation operation. Kimbrough, McArthur, Hoshide Pesquet will suit up in their launch and entry spacesuits for Crew Dragon’s automated relocation maneuver from the forward to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module. The maneuver frees up the forward port to prepare for the arrival of NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission at the microgravity laboratory at the end of July.

 

[DocM]

ISS fly-around in November

 

 

 

[TrevorLahey]

On 28/09/2021 at 14:35, DocM said:

ISS fly-around in November

 

 

 

Is there a reason that they do this?

[Jim K Global Moderator]

On 28/09/2021 at 14:03, bguy_1986 said:

Is there a reason that they do this?

Photography.

 

Soyuz did a fly around a couple of years ago (2018?).

[DocM]

On 28/09/2021 at 15:39, Jim K said:

Photography.

 

Soyuz did a fly around a couple of years ago (2018?).

 

October 2018.

 

Since then there have been add-ons; Nauka, two Roll Out Solar Arrays (ROSA), external experiments, sensors, etc. so it's time for updated imagery.

 

Also necessary for planning the addition of Axiom Space's commercial space station modules from 2024-2028. They will then detach to become the free-flying commercial AxStation under the Commercial LEO Destinations (CLD) program.

 

It's likely a second commercial space station will be built under CLD by Sierra Space (Sierra Nevada Corp division, builders of  the Dream Chaser spaceplane).

 

Then the ISS will be decommissioned and crashed into the Pacific.

 

AxStation build out

Edited September 28, 2021 by DocM

[DocM]

Boeing's trouble getting CFT-2 off the ground strikes again, crewnembers from 2 Starliner flights moved to Crew Dragon's Crew-5.

 

https://twitter.com/SciGuySpace/status/1445372592685191168

 

 

[DocM]

Starliner OFT-2 in "fall of 2022" would put the Crewed Flight Test (CFT) about early 2023 and Starliner-1 late summer of 2023.

 

With only 6 Crew Dragon missions  currently under contract and Crew-5 in fall 2022 (now with 3 astronauts transferred  from a Starliner mission), NASA needs to decide soon on contracting more Crew Dragon missions.

 

What a cluster-frack...

 

Quote

 

Eric Berger ✓ @SciGuySpace (Ars Technica)
>

I've heard dates ranging from early 2022, to May to Fall of 2022 for possible launches of OFT-2.

 

 

 

[IsItPluggedIn]

Im more concerned about what happens post the CFT.

The idea was to have two missions per year, giving each Space-X and Boeing 1 mission each.

 

If SpaceX gets its 6 done before Boeing does Starliner-1.

1. Will NASA be required to do 3 years of Starliner missions(to reach the 6)?

2. If so will Boeing be able to meet that flight rate?

 

It would be sad to see a slowdown of Dragon missions, I hope they can maintain operational staff and efficiencies with Commercial customers during that time if it comes to that.

 

 

[DocM]

On 07/10/2021 at 01:20, IsItPluggedIn said:

Im more concerned about what happens post the CFT.

The idea was to have two missions per year, giving each Space-X and Boeing 1 mission each.

 

If SpaceX gets its 6 done before Boeing does Starliner-1.

1. Will NASA be required to do 3 years of Starliner missions(to reach the 6)?

2. If so will Boeing be able to meet that flight rate?

 

It would be sad to see a slowdown of Dragon missions, I hope they can maintain operational staff and efficiencies with Commercial customers during that time if it comes to that.

Most likely if/when Starliner's problems are solved to NASAs satisfaction they'll reset the clock and split the missions thereafter.  This will, however, require a contract extension for SpaceX. 

 

Meanwhile, Boeing is bleeding money on this project, taking a $450m hit since the CFT-1 failure to prepare for CRT-2 and getting no completed milestone payments until it succeeds. 

 

More failures and Boeing itself may bail out.  One scenario for a Boeing bailout is if CFT-2 fails badly enough to lose the vehicle. Since Boeing planned on alternating flights using only 2 Starliners they'd need to build a new one. 

 

OTOH, SpaceX will soon have a fleet of 5-6 Crew Dragons with the ability to build more - they built a Dragon 2 production line and have a high demand for commercial flights. Last I heard they have over 20 non-NASA crew members in training.

 

Sierra Space's Cargo Dream Chaser is a couple years out (waiting for Vulcan) and it shares 85% with Crew Dream Chaser. Sierra Space is committed to finishing Crew Dream Chaser.

[DocM]

Boeing/NASA Starliner OFT-2 update.

 

An expanded set of valves being removed, and H1 2022 at the earliest for the test flight. Don't hold your breaths 

 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2021/10/08/nasa-boeing-update-starliner-orbital-flight-test-2-status/

 

Quote

 

NASA, Boeing Update Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 Status

 

Linda Herridge Posted on October 8, 2021

 

The NASA, Boeing team continues to make progress on the investigation of the oxidizer isolation valve issue on the Starliner service module propulsion system that was discovered ahead of the planned uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station in August.

 

“I am proud of the work our integrated teams are doing,” said Steve Stich, manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “This is a complex issue involving hazardous commodities and intricate areas of the spacecraft that are not easily accessed. It has taken a methodical approach and sound engineering to effectively examine.” Boeing has demonstrated success in valve functionality using localized heating and electrical charging techniques.

 

Troubleshooting on the pad, at the launch complex, and inside the Starliner production factory at Kennedy Space Center has resulted in movement of all but one of the original stuck valves. That valve has not been moved intentionally to preserve forensics for direct root cause analysis.

 

Most items on the fault tree have been dispositioned by the team including causes related to avionics, flight software and wiring. Boeing has identified a most probable cause related to oxidizer and moisture interactions, and although some verification work remains underway, our confidence is high enough that we are commencing corrective and preventive actions. Additional spacecraft and component testing will be conducted in the coming weeks to further explore contributing factors and necessary system remediation before flight.

 

Boeing completed a partial disassembly of three of the affected Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thruster valves last month and plans to remove three valves from the OFT-2 spacecraft in the coming weeks for further inspection. The team also is evaluating additional testing to repeat the initial valve failures.

 

Boeing has identified several paths forward depending on the outcome of the testing to ultimately resolve the issue and prevent it from happening on future flights. These options could range from minor refurbishment of the current service module components to using another service module already in production. Each option is dependent on data points the team expects to collect in the coming weeks including a timeline for safely proceeding back to the launch pad.

 

“Safety of the Starliner spacecraft, our employees, and our crew members is this team’s number one priority,” said John Vollmer, vice president and program manager, Boeing’s Starliner program. “We are taking the appropriate amount of time to work through the process now to set this system up for success on OFT-2 and all future Starliner missions.”

 

Potential launch windows for OFT-2 continue to be assessed by NASA, Boeing, United Launch Alliance, and the Eastern Range. The team currently is working toward opportunities in the first half of 2022 pending hardware readiness, the rocket manifest, and space station availability.

 

 

[DocM]

And here comes an update...

 

MEDIA ADVISORY M21-132

 

NASA, Boeing to Provide Update on Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2

 

NASA and Boeing will hold a joint teleconference at 2:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Oct. 19, to update media on the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. Teams will discuss work on the oxidizer isolation valve issue that was discovered ahead of the planned uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station in August.

Participants in the briefing will be:

 

Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

 

John Vollmer, vice president and program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew Program

 

Michelle Parker, chief engineer, Boeing Space and Launch

 

Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at: 

 

https://www.nasa.gov/live

 

To participate in the teleconference, media must contact [email protected] by 1:30 p.m. Oct. 19 for the dial-in information.

 

The OFT-2 mission will launch Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Starliner will dock to the space station before returning to land in the western United States about a week later as part of an end-to-end test flight to prove the system is ready to fly crew.

 

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

 

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

 

-end-
 

[DocM]

The Russians are coming

 

 

 

[DocM]

Russia: Crew Dragon OK for cosmonauts

 

https://spacenews.com/rogozin-says-crew-dragon-safe-for-russian-cosmonauts/

Quote

Dmitry Rogozin, director general of the Russian space agency, said in a press conference during the 72nd International Astronautical Congress here Oct. 25 that he no longer had reservations about flying cosmonauts on Crew Dragon as that spacecraft nears the end of its second long-duration mission at the International Space Station.

 

“In our view, SpaceX has already acquired enough experience for us to be able to put our cosmonauts on Crew Dragon,” he said through a translator.

>

 

[DocM]

This was unexpected...a proposed Commercial Crew docking adapter on the Russian side of ISS

 

https://ria.ru/20211126/rogozin-1760953294.html

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by DocM

[IsItPluggedIn]

From memory there is usually free ports on the Russian side, but the USA side is not booked up quite often, this could be a quick easy way for the Russians to make more money.

[DocM]

On 28/11/2021 at 18:06, IsItPluggedIn said:

From memory there is usually free ports on the Russian side, but the USA side is not booked up quite often, this could be a quick easy way for the Russians to make more money.

 

The US side of ISS has 2 commercial docking ports. Vehicles usually dock at the forward node, then they move to the zenith node when it's time for the next dock-able vehicle. This would add a 3rd port to reduce hopping around, and facilitate Russians (or significant Russian cargo) riding on Crew/Cargo Dragons. 

[DocM]

And the shoe drops...

 

https://spacenews.com/nasa-to-award-spacex-three-more-commercial-crew-flights/

 

Quote

NASA to award SpaceX three more commercial crew flights

 

WASHINGTON — NASA announced Dec. 3 its intent to purchase three more commercial crew missions from SpaceX as a hedge against further delays in the certification of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.

>

Neither NASA nor Boeing have provided an update since mid-October on progress with valve corrosion problems that scrubbed an OFT-2 launch attempt in early August and led to an extended delay for that mission. In that update, Boeing officials said they were looking at options to launch the mission some time in the first half of 2022, a schedule that would push back the first post-certification mission to 2023.

>

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by DocM