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Nearly two months after discovering a problem with its Starliner spacecraft, Boeing is still searching for answers
Washington Poost ^ | By Christian Davenport

Posted on 09/24/2021 4:47:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin

...two months after it first discovered an issue with some of the valves in the spacecraft’s service module, the company still doesn’t know with 100 percent certainty what caused 13 of those valves to remain shut when they should have been open...

...the company might even have to swap out the spacecraft’s service module for a new one...

“We got very close to launch without having identified the valve problem,” said George Nield, a panel member who previously oversaw the Federal Aviation Administration’s office of commercial space transportation. “Are there any changes to hardware inspection, testing, vehicle processing or checkout that would minimize the chances of that happening in the future?”

He also said there “were some rather significant differences in how several safety issues were assessed between NASA and Boeing” during the flight readiness reviews.

Boeing’s first flight attempt, in December 2019, suffered a series of problems due to software and communications issues that prevented the spacecraft from docking with the station and forcing controllers to shoot software fixes to the capsule in midflight

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Business/Economy; Science
KEYWORDS: 201912; astronomy; blueorigin; boeing; christiandavenport; districtofcolumbia; elonmusk; faa; georgenield; iss; jeffbezos; nasa; science; spacex; starliner; ula; ulaisforsale; valve; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost
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1 posted on 09/24/2021 4:47:02 AM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

Meanwhile, SpaceX and Blue Origin are launching tourists in their capsules.


2 posted on 09/24/2021 4:54:16 AM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: BenLurkin

doesn’t know with 100 percent certainty what caused 13 of those valves to remain shut when they should have been open...

Software. Even in autos it’s getting too complex to predict.


3 posted on 09/24/2021 4:54:28 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: BenLurkin

Time to just cancel their contract. And while they’re at it they could cancel SLS, Artemis, and Orion.


4 posted on 09/24/2021 4:55:46 AM PDT by Elderberry
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To: kosciusko51

Blue origin launches. Wow. Straight up then Down. Impressive. Not.


5 posted on 09/24/2021 5:02:02 AM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
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To: BenLurkin

Soon as Starship orbits the earth with reusable rockets the entire situation in space is changed forever.


6 posted on 09/24/2021 5:04:59 AM PDT by Bayard
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To: BenLurkin

Problem Identified

MADE IN CHINA


7 posted on 09/24/2021 5:05:43 AM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings )
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To: Vaquero

I admit, Blue Origin is an also-ran compared to SpaceX, but at least their capsule got off the ground, unlike Boeing’s.


8 posted on 09/24/2021 5:08:08 AM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: kosciusko51

Blue origin dipped their toe at the edge of space and came down.

SpaceX went up past Hubble and stayed for three days.


9 posted on 09/24/2021 5:09:27 AM PDT by AFreeBird
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To: BenLurkin

Boeing ain’t going.


10 posted on 09/24/2021 5:36:46 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
It's better to have Soviet-style fake competition than to spend less money getting the work done by people who have demonstrated that they know what they're doing. /s

11 posted on 09/24/2021 6:11:52 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: BenLurkin

Boeing has been tethered to fedgov for so long it’s become as efficient as fedgov. Overweight sloth.


12 posted on 09/24/2021 6:24:57 AM PDT by Pollard (Some people like to argue just to argue.)
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To: AFreeBird

Yes, SpaceX has been much more impressive than Blue Origin. But at least Blue Origin’s capsule has gone further than Boeing’s.


13 posted on 09/24/2021 6:28:59 AM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: Pollard

Boeing started to go downhill once they moved the HQ from Seattle to Chicago.


14 posted on 09/24/2021 6:30:13 AM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: BenLurkin

In the mean time all the true private spacecraft manufacturers are moving ahead with success after success. Maybe there’s a lesson in this for NASA?


15 posted on 09/24/2021 6:30:42 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
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To: TalBlack
doesn’t know with 100 percent certainty what caused 13 of those valves to remain shut when they should have been open...

Software. Even in autos it’s getting too complex to predict.

Should be fairly easy to diagnose. If they can pull the valves, or even most of them, and cycle them - do they open/close when signaled to open close? You can find design/manufacturing problems that way, or rule out a hardware failure.

If the valves work, check the drive circuitry and wiring. When commanded, does the signal get there at the proper voltage and with enough current to actuate the valve?

If all that is working then it is a software problem - for some reason the system did not command the right state.

If it were me, (and yes I've designed/coded software for embedded systems) for every bit of external hardware outside the control system - both sensors and actuators - I'd have a very, very simple module that interfaced to them. As in dirt simple, too simple to screw up. Said module would always log any change of state.

That way you'd always be able to go back and figure out if a command was given to the hardware (or not), when, etc. Even though this is rocket science, this isn't "rocket science" - this is computers/software dealing with the outside world 101. The outside world is messy, you have to defend yourself against it at every touchpoint.

If you're not getting the commanded state when you expect, it is your control system. This should be fairly well partitioned into higher level functions and low level functions. "Hey, we're ready for engine startup sequence." - high level. "Engine startup? That means open valves x, y, z, shut vents p, d, q..." - low level response to change of state. In general this logic should be expressed simply and clearly.

If they haven't traced through these kinds of things by now, and don't have a "smoking gun" culprit for the failure, then they have serious problems. It says their software architecture and development standards/practices don't support this kind of analysis. They're probably dealing with a mess of their own making.

16 posted on 09/24/2021 6:45:08 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Biden/Harris - illegitimate and everyone knows it.)
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To: BenLurkin

13? Lucky number.


17 posted on 09/24/2021 7:00:08 AM PDT by DownInFlames (G)
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To: BenLurkin

Maybe now they’ll try doing an integrated test, rather than looking at a bunch of specifications and figuring that it ‘should’ all work together.


18 posted on 09/24/2021 7:04:43 AM PDT by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here.)
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To: BenLurkin

There are today Chinese made parts in Boeing’s most recent aircraft models. Sabotage, via malware in some Chinese-made circuit board???


19 posted on 09/24/2021 7:16:59 AM PDT by Wuli
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To: kosciusko51

Well, there’s that.


20 posted on 09/24/2021 7:19:28 AM PDT by AFreeBird
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