Atlas V: Boeing Starliner CFT (crewed flight test)

[DocM]

Given all the trouble with this vehicle, God bless 'em

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Starliner CFT

Date: May 6, 2024

Time: 1034 Eastern

Commander: Barry "Butch" Wilmore 

Pilot: Sunita "Suni" Williams (née Pandya)

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NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test Astronauts Enter Quarantine for Mission

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are set to launch to the International Space Station on Monday, May 6, entered pre-flight quarantine in preparation for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission.

Flight crew health stabilization is a standard process ahead of any human spaceflight mission to ensure the health and safety of the crew prior to liftoff, as well as prevent sickness of the astronauts at the space station. During quarantine, astronaut contact is limited, and most interactions are remote – although family and some launch team members also may be in quarantine or cleared before interacting with the crew.

Wilmore and Williams will launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The duo will make history as the first people to fly on the Starliner spacecraft.

Wilmore and Williams will quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston before traveling to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Thursday, April 25, where they’ll remain in quarantine until launch.

Meanwhile, teams also are preparing for the Flight Test Readiness Review, which will take place over the course of two days – Wednesday, April 24, and April 25. That review brings together teams from NASA, Boeing, ULA, and its international partners to verify mission readiness including all systems, facilities, and teams that will support the end-to-end test of the Starliner.

Following a successful flight test, NASA will begin certifying the Starliner system for regular crew rotation missions to space station for the agency.

Launch is scheduled no earlier than 10:34 p.m. EDT May 6.90

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2024/04/22/nasas-boeing-crew-flight-test-astronauts-enter-quarantine-for-mission/

The official crew portrait for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Left is Suni Williams, who will serve as the pilot, and to the right is Barry “Butch” Wilmore, spacecraft commander. Photo credit: NASA

[DocM]

Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test

 

Date: May 6, 2024

Time: 1830 Eastern

Commander: Barry "Butch" Wilmore 

Pilot: Sunita "Suni" Williams (née Pandya)

 

 

[DocM]

Starliner launch NASA stream 

Lift off: 1030 Eastern

 

[DocM]

Scrub 

Valve issue

 

[DocM]

No launch for at least 4 days

https://spacenews.com/rocket-issue-scrubs-launch-of-starliner-crewed-test-flight/

Quote

The issue was with an oxygen relief valve on the rocket’s Centaur upper stage. “The team is just not comfortable with the signatures that they’re seeing, the response out of that valve, so out of an abundance of caution, we are not going to continue with our launch operations today,” said Dillon Rice, ULA launch commentator, on NASA TV.

At a press conference a couple hours after the scrub, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said the valve was buzzing at a frequency of about 40 hertz, loud enough for teams at the launch pad to hear it. Forcing the valve to close stopped the buzzing, but that process required scrubbing the launch to comply with flight rules to prohibit changes to the state of the Centaur while the crew was on board.

>

 

[DocM]

I hardly know what to say...

 

https://floridamedianow.com/2024/05/09/valvetech-urges-nasa-to-stop-second-starliner-launch-attempt/

Quote

Valvetech Urges NASA to Stop Second Starliner Launch Attempt

“As a valued NASA partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad”.

Valvetech President Erin Faville – Wednesday March 8th.

Reminiscent of warnings by Morton Thiokal just before the Challenger disaster, Valvetech Inc. has warned at least one valve on the Boeing Starliner may be unsafe.

The Atlas/Centaur upper stage valve failure during Monday’s launch attempt comes after a previous separate issue with the Service Module Propulsion system, which incorporates a valve from Boeing’s contractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. It is unclear what company manufactured the valve that failed Monday.

The Monday, May 6th launch of Starliner launch was scrubbed due to the faulty booster valve with less than two hours left in the countdown. In a later statement, NASA said:

“After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from the launch attempt, and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification, and mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve.”

Valvetech supplies 14 valve components to vendors for the Starliner Spacecraft. 

>

 

[DocM]

Well....

"But from the outside it appears poor, and non-responsive. What I'm hearing is not great news, so that may explain the reticence to engage."

 

 

[DocM]

Here we go again, putting schedule before safety.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/nasa-and-boeing-are-getting-comfortable-launching-starliner-with-a-known-leak/

Quote

NASA finds more issues with Boeing’s Starliner, but crew launch set for June 1

Fixing the helium leak would delay Starliner crew test flight for months.

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But engineers also found that an unlikely mix of technical failures in Starliner's propulsion system—representing 0.77 percent of all possible failure modes, according to Boeing's program manager—could prevent the spacecraft from conducting a deorbit burn at the end of the mission.

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In order to repair it, Boeing would need to remove the Starliner spacecraft from its Atlas V rocket and take it back to a nearby facility, where technicians would drain the service module of toxic propellants. There, workers could safely access the leaky seal and install a replacement. Boeing would then have to refill the spacecraft with propellant, reinstall it on the Atlas V rocket, and run the entire vehicle through another series of integrated mechanical and electrical tests. "It would be quite involved," said Mark Nappi, Boeing's vice president and program manager for Starliner.

All this would probably take at least several months and could delay downstream flights to the International Space Station and future ULA missions stacked up behind the Starliner test flight.

>

 

[DocM]

Go buy some popcorn 

June 1, 2024

1225 Eastern

God bless 'em

 

 

 

[DocM]

Starliner launch coverage 

 

[DocM]

/sigh...

Centaur upper stage LH2 & LOX topping off valves indicating they are stuck. Looking into anomalies vs sensor faults.

[DocM]

Pressurization problems fixed, using secondary controls.

[DocM]

All kinds of valve problems resolved, they got into the terminal count and the computer saw something it didn't like and called a hold. 

Launch window was instantaneous, meaning they had the launch exactly on time so the lunch is scrubbed. No idea why.

As I've said before, this vehicle is snake-bit.

[AnotherITguy]

I really do want the stayliner to launch, just please stop running ULA by committee and perhaps this issue would not be occurring. 

[DocM]

On 01/06/2024 at 23:16, AnotherITguy said:

I really do want the stayliner to launch, just please stop running ULA by committee and perhaps this issue would not be occurring. 

There are really two issues, ULA and Boeing. 

ULA is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, a forced marriage by the government after Boeing got caught with Lockheed Martin IP. Neither of its parents give it enough money to actually maintain their facilities or develop proper launchers. 

Boeing engineering chops died because of its merger with McDonell Douglas. MD's bean counters took over the management, ruining its engineering culture. 

The Starliner project itself suffers from multiple poor engineering choices on the part of Boeing, enough to make the vehicle dangerous. 

More recently, the Atlas 5 launcher ended production because of its use of Russian engines, so now there is a fixed supply of which Starliner only has 7 left, with 6 operational flights and CFT  on its manifest. They also only built 2 Starliners.

Once they run out of Atlas 5s someone needs to pay probably $100 million to modify the Vulcan rocket for Starliner, or it just dies.

 

Meanwhile,

Cargo and Crew Dragons are flying like popcorn and they built a fleet of each. Reusable about 15 times, and they're evaluating them for 20+ flights.

Later this summer a Vulcan rocket will launch with the  Cargo Dream Chaser Tenacity spaceplane in the fairing. Crew Dream Chaser may be ready by mid decade.

 

Edited June 2 by DocM

[DocM]

Looks like they're trying Wednesday 

https://spacenews.com/starliner-launch-rescheduled-for-june-5/

WASHINGTON — NASA and Boeing have reset the launch of the company’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for June 5 after United Launch Alliance fixed a computer problem that scrubbed the previous launch attempt.

NASA announced late June 2 that mission managers gave their approval to proceed with a launch of the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission on June 5 at 10:52 a.m. Eastern, the next available launch opportunity. A backup opportunity is June 6 at 10:29 a.m. Eastern.

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[DocM]

Godspeed Suni and Butch

10:52 Eastern

 

[DocM]

Starliner has developed more helium leaks after launch. No indication yet how this will affect the rest of the mission, or if they will make it all the way to the ISS. 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/science/boeing-starliner-new-helium-leaks-scn/index.html

 

[DocM]

NASA confirms there is thruster residue on all the windows, and....

(pardon Fox weather, they are the most up-to-date story)

https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/boeing-starliner-dock-space-station-nasa-astronauts

"As Starliner approached the ISS, NASA and Boeing monitored issues with multiple reaction control system (RCS) thrusters used to move the spacecraft in orbit when sensor values were slightly above normal limits. NASA had Williams completed hot fires of four problem jets to get them functioning again before docking, while Wilmore took over manual control of the spacecraft.

With the current issues, NASA said the spacecraft cannot approach for docking. It is holding 200 meters away from the ISS.

Wilmore and Williams were scheduled to dock at the ISS around 1 p.m., where five astronauts and two cosmonauts were there to greet them and the Starliner spacecraft named Calypso. It's unclear when the spacecraft will be able to approach for docking."

[DocM]

Hey did some manual firings of the thrusters, clearing enough to maneuver. 

Now docked at Harmony Forward.

The scheduled return date is June 14.

[DocM]

The\is Starliner news does not sound good 

 

[DocM]

So it's either five or six maneuvering thrusters which are twitchy, and old NASA and Boeing says it's likely a software problem that they kind of expected because they had seen it on a previous flight. 

Sorry, but this sounds like the normalization of deviance which is not good. 

[SteveL]

On 07/06/2024 at 22:15, DocM said:

So it's either five or six maneuvering thrusters which are twitchy, and old NASA and Boeing says it's likely a software problem that they kind of expected because they had seen it on a previous flight. 

Sorry, but this sounds like the normalization of deviance which is not good. 

As a software developer, this explanation leaves me speechless, but what do you expect from a company whose software caused two planes to crash?

[DocM]

They've discovered helium leak #5 in Starliner's service module.

1.7 psi/min. 

https://spacenews.com/fifth-helium-leak-detected-on-starliner/

 

Quote

In a June 11 statement to SpaceNews, NASA spokesperson Josh Finch said the fifth leak was detected around the time of that post-docking briefing. “The leak is considerably smaller than the others and has been recorded at 1.7 psi [pounds per square inch] per minute,” he said.