Boeing Starliner
Discussion
eharding said:
MartG said:
They made a mistake in the press conference saying crew could have fixed the error - press is going in for the kill...
Some are also raising the question of whether they need to rerun the flight or go straight to a manned test - surely a successful unmanned docking with the ISS is a contractual requirement ?
The NASA Administrator was directly asked this in the press conference - https://youtu.be/NpQlxN4xbKM?t=1992 - and said he does not rule out approving a manned Starliner launch without first having demonstrated an unmanned ISS docking.Some are also raising the question of whether they need to rerun the flight or go straight to a manned test - surely a successful unmanned docking with the ISS is a contractual requirement ?
The capsule isn’t back safely on the ground yet - even in testing it squeaked through with only 2 parachutes deploying. Boeing has a revenue of $100bn per annum and has already dropped circa 15% on the back of the 737 trouble - if they were to be silly enough to go straight for manned flight it would amaze me, they need to reach into their pockets and sort this. The fall out if they sent US citizens to their deaths would be catastrophic to the company. And yes, I really do believe losing 3 American astronauts would have a far graver result for them than losing a few hundred non-Americans on the other side of the world.
I remember hearing about a flight of Lockheed F-22 stealth fighters that were flying from Hawaii to Japan when they'd just come into service. The flight involved them flying over the international date line as as soon as they did, all their computer systems crashed & couldn't be rebooted. The aircraft could still fly, but their communication, fuel subsystems, and navigation systems were all knocked out. Luckily they were still in visual contact with their tanker aircraft and they were able to follow them back to Hawaii. Without them and if the weather had been bad, they would have been in real trouble.
It was of course caused by an error somewhere in the lines of code and after 48 hours it was fixed they were able to complete their journey OK.
It was of course caused by an error somewhere in the lines of code and after 48 hours it was fixed they were able to complete their journey OK.
Ha, that's great. The aviation and space industry is littered with dumb and expensive issues like these.
A couple of years ago, a Russian rocket was lost after launch from their new Vostochny cosmodrome in Siberia. It was only their second launch from this facility (itself a byword for Russian corruption). Lost along with it was a weather satellite and nearly 20 micro-satellites.
Unfortunately, while the Soyuz booster did its job perfectly, the Fregat upper stage had been set to think it was launching from the usual Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. So when it took over in the upper atmosphere, it got all confused and broke itself apart.
A couple of years ago, a Russian rocket was lost after launch from their new Vostochny cosmodrome in Siberia. It was only their second launch from this facility (itself a byword for Russian corruption). Lost along with it was a weather satellite and nearly 20 micro-satellites.
Unfortunately, while the Soyuz booster did its job perfectly, the Fregat upper stage had been set to think it was launching from the usual Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. So when it took over in the upper atmosphere, it got all confused and broke itself apart.
They've confirmed they're bringing the Starliner capsule home on Sunday, with the deorbit burn scheduled for 12:23 pm UK time. The landing at White Sands, New Mexico should be approximately 34 minutes after that.
Coverage will start at 11:45 am on NASA TV:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Coverage will start at 11:45 am on NASA TV:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
Beati Dogu said:
They've confirmed they're bringing the Starliner capsule home on Sunday, with the deorbit burn scheduled for 12:23 pm UK time. The landing at White Sands, New Mexico should be approximately 34 minutes after that.
Coverage will start at 11:45 am on NASA TV:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
I’m at a Christmas party - how long is that in orbit? It has a 60hour duration which is by far the lowest time for astronauts to survive. Are they in that window?Coverage will start at 11:45 am on NASA TV:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
It'll be 33 orbits, or about 48 hours, so its endurance would not have been an issue.
It's in a stable orbit about 250 kilometers up currently. So they've taken the time to go over the issues and are testing the capsule's various systems. This would have been part of the test flight anyway, but clearly they've had to move them up somewhat, as it's not going to be up there for a week, like originally planned.
The systems are working fine apparently, it just doesn't have the fuel left to raise itself to the ISS' altitude of 408 km.
If they don't bring it back at the time stated above, they have another window of opportunity about 7 hours later the same day. They'll want to bring it down in the daytime, so they can get good footage of the parachutes.
It's in a stable orbit about 250 kilometers up currently. So they've taken the time to go over the issues and are testing the capsule's various systems. This would have been part of the test flight anyway, but clearly they've had to move them up somewhat, as it's not going to be up there for a week, like originally planned.
The systems are working fine apparently, it just doesn't have the fuel left to raise itself to the ISS' altitude of 408 km.
If they don't bring it back at the time stated above, they have another window of opportunity about 7 hours later the same day. They'll want to bring it down in the daytime, so they can get good footage of the parachutes.
Not sure about your times for the landing on Sunday. Spaceflight Now are quoting the following times -
"Two landing opportunities are possible Sunday in New Mexican desert, one at around 8 a.m. EST (6 a.m. MST; 1300 GMT), and another at 3:50 p.m. EST (1:50 p.m. MST; 2050 GMT). As of mid-afternoon Friday, officials had not decided which landing opportunity to choose".
So it looks like an afternoon slot or an evening slot for us in the UK.
"Two landing opportunities are possible Sunday in New Mexican desert, one at around 8 a.m. EST (6 a.m. MST; 1300 GMT), and another at 3:50 p.m. EST (1:50 p.m. MST; 2050 GMT). As of mid-afternoon Friday, officials had not decided which landing opportunity to choose".
So it looks like an afternoon slot or an evening slot for us in the UK.
You Tube link to live coverage -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PTDpwuuao
Live coverage starts in 2 hours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PTDpwuuao
Live coverage starts in 2 hours.
The first timescale I quoted was from the NASA website and this earlier attempt is the one they're going with.
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
They'll have a post-landing press conference at 3 pm our time.
https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive
They'll have a post-landing press conference at 3 pm our time.
Down safely, right in the middle of the target area:
Despite its shorter than planned mission, they reckon they'll have 85-90% of the test data they need after going over the telemetry.
I have a feeling NASA aren't going to insist on a new unmanned test before they fly people it in.
The soonest they can launch one of these again would be in 3 months apparently.
Despite its shorter than planned mission, they reckon they'll have 85-90% of the test data they need after going over the telemetry.
I have a feeling NASA aren't going to insist on a new unmanned test before they fly people it in.
The soonest they can launch one of these again would be in 3 months apparently.
AnotherClarkey said:
Eric Mc said:
Barring any revelations about some unforeseen problems, I'd certainly be hoping the next flight should be manned.
Don't they have to complete an in-flight abort test?IMO trusting their certification process is madness at the moment.
RobDickinson said:
AnotherClarkey said:
Eric Mc said:
Barring any revelations about some unforeseen problems, I'd certainly be hoping the next flight should be manned.
Don't they have to complete an in-flight abort test?IMO trusting their certification process is madness at the moment.
Gassing Station | Science! | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff