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Boeing's Starliner

Kryten

By Kryten
in Science & Spaceflight

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mikegarrison

mikegarrison

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NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is now targeted to launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. Eastern time Friday, May 17. Following a thorough data review completed on Tuesday, May 7, United Launch Alliance decided to remove and replace a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.

The behavior of the valve triggered a launch commit criteria violation, resulting in ULA calling a launch scrub on Monday, May 6. After the ground and flight crew safely egressed from Space Launch Complex 41 Monday night, the ULA team successfully cycled the pressure regulation valve on the upper stage, and the oscillations were temporarily dampened. The oscillations then reoccurred twice during detanking operations. After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from last night’s attempt, and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification. With crew safety at the forefront, mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve. 

ULA plans to roll the rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on top back to its Vertical Integration Facility on Wednesday, May 8, to begin the replacement work. The ULA team will then perform leak checks and functional checkouts in support of the next launch attempt.

 

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darthgently

darthgently

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6 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

 

I wonder what a harmonic analysis of fluid system revealed.  Surely after all these years they are performing such an analysis.

Imagine the primetime news coverage angle had this been a certain other prominent company

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Codraroll

Codraroll

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1 hour ago, darthgently said:

Imagine the primetime news coverage angle had this been a certain other prominent company

Now you've got me imagining the news coverage angles if a spacecraft had been built by a multiple of other prominent companies ... that have nothing to do with spaceflight.

"To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Walmart's spacecraft failed to make a flight today. The responsible engineers were reportedly fired on the spot, and replacements hired among passers-by on the street outside the launch complex ..."

"We're not entirely sure why Starbucks tried to build a spacecraft, but apparently a stuck valve presented problems. A spokesperson for the company says 'we're not used to working with cold liquids', and denies concerns that the fuel tanks were mostly filled with foam ..."

"McDonald's's attempt to go to space today failed. Company engineers fear a revision of the spacecraft design would be necessary, as this would impact more than 65,000 spacecraft building facilities all over the world ..."

"There are unconfirmed and conflicting reports that Facebook's spacecraft did not launch today. On the social media platforms, millions of accounts shared and upvoted AI-generated footage of the launch, and congratulated each other with a job well done. The footage does not remotely agree on the design of the spacecraft, however, nor the location of its launch complex."

"General Motors' new rocket reportedly drove over five engineers and a school bus as it was transported to the launch stand today, where it expended enough fuel to fill a swimming pool without even turning the engines on. The 700-by-700-by-700 foot rocket, weighing several million tons, is expected to be able to launch nearly thirty pounds of groceries to space. They would have to be softly wrapped, however, so as not to scratch the finish on the Indestructium (R) trailer bed."

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tater

tater

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2 hours ago, darthgently said:

I wonder what a harmonic analysis of fluid system revealed.  Surely after all these years they are performing such an analysis.

Centaur is very mature, albeit less flown in the 2 RL-10 variant. They'll get it sorted, ULA is extremely competent. They're not super innovative, they're not super fast—but they are very reliable.

 

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tater

tater

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10 minutes ago, CBase said:

Now targeting May 21th. Issue is helium leak, which is assumed to be acceptable but tests pending. Otherwise another date slip is likely.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/05/boeing-is-troubleshooting-a-small-helium-leak-on-the-starliner-spacecraft/

Yeah, THIS delay belongs here, as it is a Starliner problem.

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tater

tater

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I think a few of us have said this, but had they flown on time (sans the ULA Centaur issue) it's likely something they deal with on the next vehicle (minor He leak), but because of the increased scrutiny after the ULA issue, @mikegarrison's take is probably correct here. It'll be a while if they pull the astronauts out of quarantine.

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