Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is 'go' for May 6 astronaut launch

[NTP2]

And we have capture!

 

[bad_idea]

Through the hatch!

 

[jsdemar]

Capcom Neal Nagata was amazingly professional and a super stickler for details.

 

[Rob Campbell]

It's been a great week for spaceflight. Starliner is flying and Starship's re-entry test was spectacular.

 

[jsdemar]

It's been a great week for spaceflight. Starliner is flying and Starship's re-entry test was spectacular.

A little extra bonus for me. My son did the environment testing and certification on the Starliner transceivers at General Dynamics.

 

[BABAR]

Hmmmm….helium leak AND thruster issues.

I presume the “powers that be” will call for a return earlier than the planned 8 day mission if the Simulation models show that with a few thrusters out AND progressively decreasing helium levels the capsule will have borderline capacity to appropriately maneuver for re-entry?

Not sure what the mission plans are for the next 8 days, but Saturday Night (rather than Monday Morning) Quarterbacking would IMO be: get the heck out of Dodge now with as much helium as you have, before this becomes a 13,000 kg piece of space debris co-orbiting with the ISS (I would have said paperweight, but with no gravity….or paper……)

You’ve proven you can launch it successfully, maneuver successful, dock successfully. Heck with hanging around for 8 days. Prove it can UNdock successfully, maneuver for reentry, survive descent, and land safely. THEN figure out exactly WHY you have recurring helium leaks and thruster issues with a living crew and an intact capsule that you can examine ON THE GROUND. Not sure I really care how small the leak is, especially in combination with thruster “issues”, and since it cannot be fixed or resupplied in space, discretion is the better part of valor. Recalling it now loses a bit of face, NOT recalling it now puts a whole lot more on the line.

If this goes south (apologies to @Cape Byron ) it’s gonna make Boeing’s 737 Max saga look like a picnic.

 

[NTP2]

Hmmmm….helium leak AND thruster issues.

I presume the “powers that be” will call for a return earlier than the planned 8 day mission if the Simulation models show that with a few thrusters out AND progressively decreasing helium levels the capsule will have borderline capacity to appropriately maneuver for re-entry?

Not sure what the mission plans are for the next 8 days, but Saturday Night (rather than Monday Morning) Quarterbacking would IMO be: get the heck out of Dodge now with as much helium as you have, before this becomes a 13,000 kg piece of space debris co-orbiting with the ISS (I would have said paperweight, but with no gravity….or paper……)

You’ve proven you can launch it successfully, maneuver successful, dock successfully. Heck with hanging around for 8 days. Prove it can UNdock successfully, maneuver for reentry, survive descent, and land safely. THEN figure out exactly WHY you have recurring helium leaks and thruster issues with a living crew and an intact capsule that you can examine ON THE GROUND. Not sure I really care how small the leak is, especially in combination with thruster “issues”, and since it cannot be fixed or resupplied in space, discretion is the better part of valor. Recalling it now loses a bit of face, NOT recalling it now puts a whole lot more on the line.

If this goes south (apologies to @Cape Byron ) it’s gonna make Boeing’s 737 Max saga look like a picnic.

My thoughts exactly, no RCS, you are stuck and you can’t even get rid of it to put a dragon or Soyuz in its place! It would need them to push it away. And I highly doubt it has Canada arm points.

 

[kuririn]

Boeing seems to have a pressure containment issue.

 

[OverTheTop]

https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-astronaut-test-flight-thrusters-helium-leaks

 

[terryg]

So they had the same problems with thrusters in 2022 and did not resolve the issues. You have a helium leak and rather than fix it you launch anyway and hope the launch will not make it worse. Why is any one trusting this company to do anything?

 

[NTP2]

So they had the same problems with thrusters in 2022 and did not resolve the issues. You have a helium leak and rather than fix it you launch anyway and hope the launch will not make it worse. Why is any one trusting this company to do anything?

I say stop letting them make washing machines…

 

[ksaves2]

Meanwhile, as the media goes on about a female astronaut riding in a 1960s-era capsule, being boosted by old Russian engines as a great advance, Spacex just launched a 400foot heavy lift rocket recovered the booster, orbited, re-entered, belly-flopped and soft landed Starship.

Quite a contrast...

Oh, and I have to add that Starship had a burn through of at least one control fin (front right). In spite of the rather serious damage the fin still functioned and controlled the descent. Pretty awesome...

Makes it hard for me to get too excited about Starliner, I'm afraid.

The Russians sent the first woman in space in 1963. I think she was just along for the ride. Valentina Tereshkova is her name. Various reports said there were spacecraft problems and she got unhinged and started crying. I don't know how true they were. The got her back alive and Russia had the nome de plume of first woman in space. Oh she never flew again of course as the Russians didn't want to lose her propaganda status. Just like John Glenn. JFK wouldn't let him fly again lest we lose him. Did get to fly in the Shuttle much later on and long after Kennedy was dead. I heard he submitted to a coronary artery angiogram to make sure his heart was o.k. and he had no coronary artery disease. Safe procedure when he had it at that time but a lot to have to go through to get back into space. Ostensibly his mission was to see how "old people" did in space. For him it was no problem with all the training he had in the 50's and 60's along with his orbital flight in a Mercury capsule that had "problems" and he did make it back at that time. Thank heavens it was a "light bulb" problem and not a significant snafu.

 

[BABAR]

https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-astronaut-test-flight-thrusters-helium-leaks

I saw that. On re-reading it I missed this

“Since the thrusters are on Starliner's service module, which is jettisoned ahead of reentry, Boeing won't get it back to study on Earth. “

So that nullls my argument that getting the vehicle down will help them directly inspect the malfunctioning parts.

 

[BABAR]

I say stop letting them make washing machines…

 

[CalebJ]

I had the same reaction.

 

[NTP2]

I had the same reaction.

It’s a reference to an interview with an employee during the MAX crash’s, he was talking about how the management was running the company like they made washing machines. I thought it was more well known than it appears to be.

 

[kuririn]

It’s a reference to an interview with an employee during the MAX crash’s, he was talking about how the management was running the company like they made washing machines. I thought it was more well known than it appears to be.

Boeing washing machines might leak.
Just sayin'
(Joke).

 

[BABAR]

Boeing washing machines might leak.
Just sayin'
(Joke).

They should excel at spin recovery. I’d avoid the permanent press cycle.

https://www.bhg.com/what-is-permane...rics, resulting in fewer wrinkles and creases.

 

[Mugs914]

Boeing washing machines might leak.
Just sayin'
(Joke).

Should be okay; I quit washing in helium years ago...

 

[ksaves2]

Should be okay; I quit washing in helium years ago...

Shoot if one did that the clothes would be shattered into a million pieces if it was possible to use an agitator in liquid He!!

 

[BABAR]

Shoot if one did that the clothes would be shattered into a million pieces if it was possible to use an agitator in liquid He!!

I had an introduction to physics college course at UC Riverside. Was showing us liquid nitrogen.

Professor said they were testing cryogenics on a frog. Unfortunately they dropped it.

 

[OverTheTop]

Should be okay; I quit washing in helium years ago...

Gets your clothes squeaky clean!

 

[boatgeek]

I had an introduction to physics college course at UC Riverside. Was showing us liquid nitrogen.

Professor said they were testing cryogenics on a frog. Unfortunately they dropped it.

My intro to chem prof had a prank he'd play every 5-6 years. During the lecture/demo on liquid nitrogen making things brittle, he'd freeze stuff and then hit it with a hammer. Of course, he was wearing gloves while doing this. Prior to the lecture, he filled the pinky finger of the glove with hamburger and let that get good and cold through the demos. At the very end, he'd "accidentally" hit the hamburger with the hammer, making what students thought was his finger break up all over the counter. I'm pretty sure the department made him stop after a student in the front row caught some hamburger in the face and fainted dead away.

This was also the guy who requested cesium and francium every year for his intro classes, and was denied every year because the department knew that he was planning on tossing it into water for an extremely vigorous reaction (aka an explosion). He liked making things go boom, especially in front of a 300-student lecture hall.

 

[Antares JS]

I flicked over to CNN during a commercial on another channel. They were having a discussion about the Starliner. The guy being interviewed said what an important technological advance the rocket it. *Really*??
The rocket power by surplus Russian rocket engines? Technological advance? Maybe for 1960...

Keep in mind that most people in the news media probably don't know the difference between the rocket/launch vehicle and the payload/spacecraft.

 

[techrat]

My intro to chem prof had a prank he'd play every 5-6 years. During the lecture/demo on liquid nitrogen making things brittle, he'd freeze stuff and then hit it with a hammer. Of course, he was wearing gloves while doing this. Prior to the lecture, he filled the pinky finger of the glove with hamburger and let that get good and cold through the demos. At the very end, he'd "accidentally" hit the hamburger with the hammer, making what students thought was his finger break up all over the counter. I'm pretty sure the department made him stop after a student in the front row caught some hamburger in the face and fainted dead away.

I have a doctor friend who tells a similar story. Apparently, making it look like you just destroyed a body part with L/N is a popular prank to keep the students awake. Classes like that tend to have actual attendance versus lecture classes where students leave tape recorders in the chair while they go out for beers.

 

[OverTheTop]

aaand another one...
https://spacenews.com/fifth-helium-leak-detected-on-starliner/

 

[terryg]

Is the Starliner still capable of automatic operation? If so, then let the turkey return on its own, and then bill Boeing for a crew dragon flight to bring them back.

 

[jsdemar]

Is the Starliner still capable of automatic operation? If so, then let the turkey return on its own, and then bill Boeing for a crew dragon flight to bring them back.

Yes, the unmanned test flight 5 years ago was successful. It’s the same spacecraft that was used for the test flight.

 

[cvanc]

Yeah, but aren't the leaks in the service module, which is new every flight?

 

[jsdemar]

Yeah, but aren't the leaks in the service module, which is new every flight?

You're correct.