On Thursday, Boeing will get a second chance to remake the space taxi it built for NASA.
The Starliner capsule will carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, but it must first complete a test flight without an astronaut to verify that its systems are working properly. . Its two previous attempts to make that preparatory journey – the first in December 2019 and the second in August 2021 – both failed due to serious technical problems. Failures also cost Boeing hundreds of millions of dollars.
But now, at last, the Starliner is at the launch pad once again. Here’s what you need to know about its flight.
How and when can I watch Starliner launch?
Liftoff is scheduled for 6:54 p.m. ET on Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA Television start streaming the launch range at 6pm Or you can watch it in the embedded video player at the top of this article.
Weather forecasters give a 90% chance of favorable conditions for launch. There is a backup launch window on Friday at 6:32 p.m., but the weather could be less promising, at just 30 percent, as thunderstorms are expected in the area.
Why is Starliner in so much trouble?
Boeing performed a pilotless test flight of the Starliner in December 2019. The problems started almost as soon as it reached orbit.
A software bug caused Starliner’s clocks to be set to the wrong time. That causes the on-board computer to try to move the spacecraft to where it thinks the ship should be. The firing of the thrusters used up most of the propellant, and the plan to dock the Starliner to the space station was shelved.
While working on that problem, Boeing engineers discovered a second flaw that could cause the wrong thrusters to explode when the capsule was about to re-enter, potentially leading to the destruction of the spacecraft. pillar. They fixed that software bug while the Starliner orbited Earth and the capsule landed safely at White Sands, NM.
Those problems held back the next step: a demonstration flight with the astronauts on board. NASA told Boeing it needed to repeat the pilotless test flight, at Boeing’s expense.
Boeing has spent more than a year refining and re-testing the software, and last August, the Starliner returned to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, atop a second Atlas 5 rocket.
The countdown has begun, but must be paused. The flight manager discovered that 13 valves in Starliner’s propulsion system failed to open.
Boeing then spent about eight months investigating the corrosion that caused the valves to close. Boeing swapped out the service module – the piece of Starliner below the propulsion capsule – with one already planned for the next mission.
Now, it’s ready for that second run.
Does the Starliner carry cargo on this mission?
While this mission won’t bring any astronauts, one of the Starliner seats will be filled by a dummy named Rosie the Rocketeer. Rosie also flew during its first orbital test in 2019, equipped with sensors to measure conditions inside the capsule.
There’s also more than 800 pounds of cargo on board, mostly food and supplies for the space station crew, in addition to a number of memorabilia. The spacecraft will bring back to Earth nearly 600 pounds of cargo from the space station.
Are all the problems fixed now?
NASA and Boeing officials said they methodically analyzed and fixed the software bug that caused the 2019 test flight to be cut short. Problems with the communication system have also been fixed.
They also say they understand how the valves get stuck. Moisture in the air reacts with the propellant propellant, nitrogen tetroxide, to produce nitric acid that corrodes the valve.
Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president and program director for commercial crew programs, said in a press conference Tuesday: “The secret to this flight is to get rid of that moisture and make sure that’s it. it doesn’t cause nitrate to form.” “We have gone to great lengths to ensure that the valve is properly sealed so that there is no possibility of moisture entering the valve.”
Dry nitrogen is passed through valves to help remove moisture.
During the preparation, the valves were opened and closed several times without any problems, Mr. Nappi said.
Boeing is also looking at long-term solutions, including redesigning the valves, he said.
Does NASA really need the Starliner?
After the space shuttles were decommissioned, the United States had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets for trips to and from the International Space Station. NASA then hired two companies to ferry astronauts to and from the station: SpaceX and Boeing. By the time of Boeing’s test flight in 2019, it looks like the Starliner will beat SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule for the first mission with the astronauts.
But with Starliner grounding issues, SpaceX has since performed seven Crew Dragon missions with astronauts. Five are for NASA. Two other people put private citizens into orbit.
SpaceX’s missions also appear to be much less expensive than Boeing’s. When NASA announced the contracts in 2014, Boeing received $4.2 billion while SpaceX would receive $2.6 billion. (The space agency does not release contract details, making it difficult to accurately compare the cost of a seat on the Starliner to Crew Dragon. In 2019 NASA’s inspector general estimated that each seat on Crew Dragon costs $55 million, while a seat on the Starliner costs $90 million.)
