Atlas V: Boeing Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2)

[DocM]

Boeing's re-do of the December 20, 2019 OFT-1 un-crewed mission, which was nearly lost twice due to dozens of system malfunctions, design issues, and hubris.

 

Key were the Mission Elapsed Timer starting at Atlas V  launcher power-up at T-11 hours instead of liftoff, and the attitude control thruster map (tells the avionics computer which thruster points where) being incorrect. They used the default map instead of adjusting it for the new vehicle configuration. 

 

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Mission: un-crewed flight test to the International Space Station; launch, approach, dock, stay a few days, un-dock and return to Earth.

 

Date: July 30, 2021

Time: 1453.Eastern (1853 GMT)

Launcher: ULA Atlas V

Pad: LC-41, Kennedy Space Center

Landing: White Sands Space Harbor (WSSH), White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

 

Webcast: NASA TV, NASA YouTube channel

 

 

 

[anthdci]

Good luck to them getting it right this time, having multiplier vendors is always a good thing, That being said if I was to go up there I'd be disappointed if I was put on starliner instead of dragon.

[DocM]

Scrubbed!!

 

Problems with the Russian Nauka module docking screwed the schedule. Nauka docked, but after docking its  thrusters kept firing causing ISS to get 45° out of attitude and burn its thrusters.

 

OK now, but...jeezzzzz

Edited July 29, 2021 by DocM

[DocM]

Starliner OFT-2 webcast starts August 3, 1200 Eastern

 

 

[DocM]

SCRUBBED!! (Starliner issue)

 

 

 

[DocM]

This appears to be turning into another Boeing  cluster-frack...

 

Abhi Tripathi is former SpaceX Director and NASA Engineer. Currently Director Mission Ops Space Sciences Laboratory UC Berkeley.

 

 

 

[DocM]

Malfunctioning propulsion system valves grounded OFT-2. This program, like much at Boeing, is snake-bit. Guess we'll be seeing a lot more Crew Dragons. 

 

https://spacenews.com/starliner-test-flight-faces-months-long-delay/

 

Quote

 

Starliner test flight faces months-long delay

 

WASHINGTON — A test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle will be delayed for at least several months to fix a problem with valves on the spacecraft.

 

Boeing announced Aug. 13 that it will remove the Starliner spacecraft that was to launch this month on the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) 2 mission from its Atlas 5 rocket and return it to the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center for additional work.

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WASHINGTON — A test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle will be delayed for at least several months to fix a problem with valves on the spacecraft.

Boeing announced Aug. 13 that it will remove the Starliner spacecraft that was to launch this month on the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) 2 mission from its Atlas 5 rocket and return it to the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center for additional work.

>

John Vollmer, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s commercial crew program, said on the media call that the leading cause of the valve problem is that nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), the oxidizer used for Starliner’s thrusters, permeated Teflon seals in the valves. That NTO interacted with moisture on the “dry” side of the valve, creating nitric acid. The acid corroded the valves, causing them to stick in the closed position.

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Edited August 13, 2021 by DocM