Boeing Starliner

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Discussion

MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Nasty looking cloud of nitrogen tetroxide there - hope the wind isn't blowing towards that road in the background

MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Only two main chutes deployed

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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I wonder if the Service Module should really land so close to the spacecraft. The wreckage of the SM is obviously emitting quite a lot of toxic looking smoke from its burst fuel tanks.

Also, it looks like two main chutes deployed rather than three.

I would say that they will not be 100% happy with that test.

MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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In an operational launch the SM would crash into the sea, so toxic fuel leaks may be absorbed more by the water

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Possibly - but you don't want to be too near them whatever the circumstances.

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Yummy UDMH biggrin

That was a great-looking abort, always impressive how much the "small" rockets on capsules can accelerate them so impressively.

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Pity the camera work was a bit shonky. They were so zoomed in they found it hard to keep the craft in the field of vision. I'm sure they have more wide angled shots which will be better. It will be nice to see them once they release them for general viewing.

Beati Dogu

8,861 posts

138 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Monday 4th November 2019
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Scott's analyses are always worth listening too.

Einion Yrth

19,575 posts

243 months

Tuesday 5th November 2019
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MartG said:
In an operational launch the SM would crash into the sea, so toxic fuel leaks may be absorbed more by the water
N2O4 + H2O + O2 -> HNO3

Nitric acid, yummy.

Eric Mc

121,763 posts

264 months

Tuesday 5th November 2019
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I wouldn't want to be a recovery frogman.

Beati Dogu

8,861 posts

138 months

Friday 8th November 2019
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They won't need frogmen hopefully, unless there's a pad abort.

If everything goes well, Starliner will land at the 800,000-acre Dugway Proving Ground in the Utah desert. Itself no stranger to chemical and biological weapons testing since WW2.

The initial report says the parachute failure was due to human error. One of the pilot chute lanyards wasn't secured properly to the main chute and it was wrenched clean out. A locking pin wasn't completely home they think, not helped by it being hard to inspect visually due to a protective shroud. They were able to figure this from video footage and inspection of the recovered hardware.


Meanwhile, they're currently assembling the Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral for the unmanned Starliner flight test to the ISS. This is still planned to launch on 17th December. The capsule will spend a week at the ISS after that.


https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/11/07/boeing-ident...

MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Friday 8th November 2019
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Beati Dogu said:
They won't need frogmen hopefully, unless there's a pad abort.
An abort during launch is the only time when the SM debris and its fuel is likely to come down near the Crew module - so just when you're most likely to need a recovery ship and its crew :/

Beati Dogu

8,861 posts

138 months

Tuesday 19th November 2019
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Boeing is on the offensive about the cost of their Starliner / Atlas V commercial crew effort:


$90 million per seat?

-- Boeing rejects the average seat price assessment in the IG report.

-- Boeing will fly the equivalent of a fifth passenger in cargo for NASA, so the per-seat pricing should be considered based on five seats rather than four.

-- For proprietary, competitive reasons Boeing does not disclose specific pricing information, but we are confident our average seat pricing to NASA is below the figure cited.

-- The report also fails to mention Starliner's superior value:

-- Starliner provides a fifth passenger seat or more cargo capacity at the customer’s direction.

-- NASA crews have full vehicle control in all phases of spaceflight, including backup manual capability.

-- Starliner flies on the most reliable lifter in the business, an Atlas V modified for human spaceflight safety by people with actual experience in the domain.

-- The spacecraft touches back down to Earth on land, not a splashdown, something Boeing considers much safer.

-- Starliner astronauts train in Houston with Boeing and NASA working side-by-side in the former space shuttle and ISS training facilities.



Full statement here:

https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2019-11-18-Boeing-Sta...


NASA agrees with them, to a point, but says it doesn't take into account the cargo capacity of the SpaceX Dragon 2 either. This has a large, unpressurised "trunk", as well as room for internal cargo

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Tuesday 19th November 2019
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They both can seat 7 cant they?


"We reject these accusations but we wont tell you the actual figures because reasons (bad ones)"

Beati Dogu

8,861 posts

138 months

Tuesday 19th November 2019
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Yes, they can both seat 7 if required, although NASA's requirement was for 4 people.

Most likely they will take 3 people up at a time (half an ISS crew).

ISS is designed for a 7 person crew, but is limited to 6 at the moment, because that's the number that could be evacuated to Earth on the two Soyuz capsules that are attached.

Soyuz MS-15 (arrived September 2019)
Soyuz MS-13 (arrived July 2019)

So Dragon & Starliner having the extra seats does offer more flexibility there too.

Beati Dogu

8,861 posts

138 months

Thursday 21st November 2019
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The first operational CST-100 Starliner capsule has been fully assembled at Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy:



All that high tech and people still have to push it around on air bearings. biglaugh Awesome.

They'll fuel it tomorrow and transport it over to ULA’s Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility. Once there, they'll lift it up the same day & integrate it with the Atlas V rocket for its first unmanned flight to the ISS next month.

MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Saturday 23rd November 2019
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The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 21, 2019. Starliner will be secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.


MartG

Original Poster:

20,619 posts

203 months

Saturday 23rd November 2019
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Gandahar

9,600 posts

127 months

Sunday 24th November 2019
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This Cybertruck grey is getting quite a funky colour nowadays isn't it!

Is this going to dock like Crew dragon or be berthed by the arm? I did love Crew Dragon approaching the ISS, it did look so 2001 .. fantastic.

Great photo's, December is going to be a busy month.