Posted on 06/30/2024 12:29:18 PM PDT by george76
An initial eight-day Boeing Starliner test mission to the International Space Station will be extended indefinitely to test the spacecraft's thrusters.
Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are safely aboard the ISS and are not stranded in space, NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said
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But there is no targeted return date "until we get the testing completed," Stich said.
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The Starliner's service module contains thrusters, helium lines and other systems that NASA officials need to study before discarding the module upon re-entry and allowing it to burn up.
Those components require further study to determine why the Starliner deselected needed thrusters as it approached the ISS for docking on June 6.
The Starliner launched on June 5 after several delays to complete its first crewed mission and final test flight with test pilots Wilmore and Williams aboard.
NASA also plans testing as soon as Wednesday at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico to replicate how the thrusters were used during the flight. The testing will take about two weeks.
The Starliner developed helium leaks in five aft thrusters during the launch and while approaching the ISS as the thruster jets pulsed to control the docking procedure.
Helium valves in the service module were closed upon docking, but those valves must be opened to pressurize the helium lines used to power the thrusters.
The questionable thruster jets fired when tested while the Starliner is docked at the ISS while a fifth thruster and produce enough thrust to enable a successful return to Earth.
The initial mission was scheduled to last 10 days, including eight while docked at the ISS.
The thruster problems have extended the mission to between 45 and 90 days.
Nine people are aboard the ISS. Four came to the ISS from a Soyuz capsule and three from SpaceX's Dragon.
In other words: They are not stranded in space, but they are stranded in space.
That's some Nancy-Pelosi-level reasoning there.
On the flight down their anuses will squeeze so tight that when they land they will pass diamonds.
These days I think the updated saying “If it’s Boeing, I aint going!” makes a lot of sense.
I have had 15,000 to 20,000 high pressure systems that suffered injury and they were never reliable again. You had to hold your breath, your mouth just right and cross all your fingers and toes hope against hope that they would test. Hope is not a valid procedure against failure or reliable operation of a critical system in testing let alone in time of actual need.
Just another Boing flaming screw-up.
determine why the Starliner deselected needed thrusters .... love the wordsmithing here.....Deselected, as in DIDN’T WORK
While the California ‘bullet train’ is now looking at 25 years from approval to operation, it is worth noting that not all projects have to take that long. For example, after the 1993 Northridge Earthquake California Governor Pete Wilson called up the president of the largest highway contractor in California (C.C. Myers) and told him to drop everything and send all of the equipment and people he had (or might need) to the Santa Monica Freeway overcrossing of La Cienega Boulevard, where the entire Eastbound section had collapsed on to the road (along with another section). These were absolutely HUGE highway bridges, something like 7 lanes wide (including shoulders), and at least 100 feet long. He told Myers not to worry about being paid, that will be settled later. He also risked jail time by telling Myers that he could have more than the 1% white male limit and 20% LGBT minimum (no word the Flaming Feminist requirement, but likely that was waived too). He simply said to do whatever it takes. The freeway was reopened in 3 months. No one complained (probably since those sections of freeway were quite close to the main LGBT area of Southern California).
So can NASA do something right? It’s up to their bosses, at all levels, to the very top. If they continue to be primarily a ‘social services’ organization, not very likely, if they start thinking like it’s 1969, then, easily.
NASA and the globalist Ukraine warmongers in the U.S. government are hoping desperately that the Boeing Starleaker will work, because it would be damning to have to call the Russians to rescue the astronauts.
Is Boeing paying NASA for the extended vacation at the ISS?
Somehow the Monty Python Parrot Sketch applies here.
My lifetime real world industrial experience tells me this is the “Squeezing Jello Tighter to Fix It” solutions team work product.
Can't we just send up enough Happy Birthday/other helium balloons to help them?
Or what about one of those big Chinese thingy's?
When the thrusters are fired, they detect combustion by measuring pressure in the combustion chamber or nozzle. Within just a few milliseconds they expect to see pressure come up in the chamber.
If the pressure does not come up within a certain time-frame, they shut down the thruster. This is how some of the thrusters were “deselected”.
These thruster use hypergolic fuels, meaning they ignite on contact. For smooth operation, the valves need to open precisely at the right time so that one liquid does not accumulate before the other arrives. If you have valve issues or fuel supply issues, BOOM.
They had several pressure sensors fail, giving incorrect readings. The thruster would not fire, or remain firing for more than a few milliseconds. There are some concerns about over temperatures effecting the pressure sensors. They ought to be concerned.
It is my understanding that they can override the pressure sensor data. But that comes with more risks. What if the sensors are correct?
They are running ground tests right now to gain a better understanding of the effects of heat on the pressure sensors.
Lost In Space
“not stranded in space”
We live in an age of insane lies.
Everybody does it.
How many more failures can Boeing endure before they collapse?
The computer “deselected” them. In other words, the software logic took them out of service. It’s a valid word usage.
They could also get Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring them back. NASA sponsored 2 programs to shuttle astronauts to the space station. Musk finished SpaceX on time. It has been used as a taxi to the space station about nine times already.
Interestingly, we are partners with Russia on the international space station.
They could also get Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring them back. NASA sponsored 2 programs to shuttle astronauts to the space station. Musk finished SpaceX on time. It has been used as a taxi to the space station about nine times already.
Interestingly, we are partners with Russia on the international space station.
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