tater Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 7 minutes ago, mikegarrison said: We have gone from "we're not sure when this will happen" to "the launch will be July 30 at 2:53pm local time". Of course, since the target is the ISS, they actually do need to have an exact launch time in mind, plus or minus only a few minutes. It's been on schedule for a while now, they indefinitely delayed the other Atlas V until after OFT-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 I wonder how wide the launch window is. ULA has previously set much wider Atlas launch windows for rendezvous launches than SpaceX does. They have said they can do this because the Centaur second stage gives them a lot of margin for being able to match orbits. IIRC it was something like +/- 15 minutes, which is much bigger than Falcon 9 or most other rockets. However, those were all with the single-engine Centaur. We know that the Starliner has to fly a different trajectory and use the dual-engine Centaur (in order to make an LES event survivable). I wonder if they still have the relatively large launch window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 55 minutes ago, mikegarrison said: I wonder how wide the launch window is. ULA has previously set much wider Atlas launch windows for rendezvous launches than SpaceX does. They have said they can do this because the Centaur second stage gives them a lot of margin for being able to match orbits. IIRC it was something like +/- 15 minutes, which is much bigger than Falcon 9 or most other rockets. However, those were all with the single-engine Centaur. We know that the Starliner has to fly a different trajectory and use the dual-engine Centaur (in order to make an LES event survivable). I wonder if they still have the relatively large launch window. Dunno on the window, I sent a text to my friend who has been working on OFT-2 at MCC to see if he knows (or can find out). Falcon 9 also has the issue that even of they have a wider window, it's effectively instantaneous unless the window is long enough to do a complete recycle due to super-chilling propellants. They can't hold for very long periods unless they redo prop load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YNM Posted June 24, 2021 Share Posted June 24, 2021 (edited) Good to hear we can finally wait to see three sort of capsules on the station... That being said, are there plans to keep using Starliner past 2024 on the ISS ? Or can it get to Gateway ? Edited June 24, 2021 by YNM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 On 6/24/2021 at 1:25 PM, YNM said: can it get to Gateway ? I don't think either ISS capsule is designed or intended to go to the Moon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 My wife saw this pic on the NSF top page I had up: She said it looks like a bowel stapler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotius Posted June 27, 2021 Share Posted June 27, 2021 OK, i can sort-of see the likeness of the weird bottom bit. Still, ew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meecrob Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 Haha the "Bowel Stapler" is an apt name after that disastrous first test flight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceFace545 Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 13 minutes ago, Meecrob said: Haha the "Bowel Stapler" is an apt name after that disastrous first test flight! Disastrous is a gross exaggeration, other than the software glitch it hit all of it's benchmarks and was able to land perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman.Spiff Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 On 6/27/2021 at 12:30 PM, tater said: bowel stapler. I’m horrified to imagine what could require that in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meecrob Posted June 30, 2021 Share Posted June 30, 2021 (edited) 29 minutes ago, SpaceFace545 said: Disastrous is a gross exaggeration, other than the software glitch it hit all of it's benchmarks and was able to land perfectly. Suuuuure...Was one of its benchmarks to waste all its RCS, and another benchmark to NOT be able to dock with ISS? In any case, if I were onboard when it, according to you, made a successful flight, my butt would have needed the jaws of life to open it to even fart. Edited June 30, 2021 by Meecrob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegarrison Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 8 hours ago, Meecrob said: I were onboard when it, according to you, made a successful flight, my butt would have needed the jaws of life to open it to even fart. If people had been onboard, they would probably have overridden the problems and the mission would have gone forward. A big part of the problem was they they lost ground contact and couldn't counteract the bad clock input. Still an embarrassing and potentially dangerous mistake, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 9 hours ago, SpaceFace545 said: Disastrous is a gross exaggeration, other than the software glitch it hit all of it's benchmarks and was able to land perfectly. Disastrous is a bit extreme, but it was pretty bad technically, and not just the clock error. From a scheduling standpoint, pretty awful, good thing Dragon could take up the slack. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-and-boeing-complete-orbital-flight-test-reviews They've worked through it, and I bet it works well this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Spoiler Am I the only one that finds that meatball the wrong blue? It's supposed to be a standard federal color (safety blue, 15102). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaceman.Spiff Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 7 minutes ago, tater said: wrong blue? All of the blue is the wrong blue. Maybe they lost that bucket of paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Just now, Spaceman.Spiff said: All of the blue is the wrong blue. Maybe they lost that bucket of paint? Boeing and their branding can be whatever color they like. NASA has a graphics manual, and explicitly sets every single color allowed. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/nasa_graphics_manual_nhb_1430-2_jan_1976.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beccab Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 9 minutes ago, tater said: Reveal hidden contents Am I the only one that finds that meatball the wrong blue? It's supposed to be a standard federal color (safety blue, 15102). The one on OFT-1 looks like it was right, so either they changed their blue and wrongly changed the NASA one as well or the pic is weird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 It looks like there's a light right above it, that could be washing out the color or messing with the camera exposure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 (edited) 11 minutes ago, cubinator said: It looks like there's a light right above it, that could be washing out the color or messing with the camera exposure. Yeah, it's possible it's related to the camera/exposure. The flag on the wall looks OK, though. The one on the capsule has the Union too light. As does the remove before flight tag. Maybe they have a membrane over their logos? Edited July 9, 2021 by tater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Where is a row of stars? Is it a Starliner or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbiloid Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Mk1-2 on top of RT-10? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 Starliner is fine by me, but stacked it's possibly the ugliest crew vehicle stack ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubinator Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 19 minutes ago, tater said: Starliner is fine by me, but stacked it's possibly the ugliest crew vehicle stack ever. Even worse than that shuttle SRB thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tater Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 3 minutes ago, cubinator said: Even worse than that shuttle SRB thing? Yeah, but that was never real, only a boilerplate. When it flies people, it definitely wins: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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