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The Starliners Challenger Disaster: What Have We Learned About Space Shuttle Flights? — The Case of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams
Hundreds of people have been sent into space by NASA. It is difficult, but NASA’s routine is expected to be as regular as one can expect.
The Starliners saga is troubling since it happened several weeks ago. On June 5, Boeing sent two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to the International Space Station aboard its new Starliner spacecraft. It was the first time the vehicle had ever ferried humans into space — after years of developmental delays caused by design and testing problems. This mission was supposed to be a moment of redemption for the company’s space program as well as its larger reputation.
That is the correct move. The Challenger disaster could have been prevented if there had been more thorough checks. It’s one that leaves Wilmore and Williams stuck in space.
The Return of the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (SUNI & BUTCH) astronauts to Earth is not the same as the Kennedy Space Telescope
Now, NASA and Boeing object to that kind of characterization; they have emphasized that in an emergency, the astronauts can take the spacecraft home. But if the pair can’t come home yet, because of circumstances outside their control, and there’s no timetable for when they could return, that seems to fit the very definition of being stuck.
When the two astronauts lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, they thought they’d be back in time for the Juneteenth holiday.
Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president for its Commercial Crew Program, told reporters that they are not stuck on the International Space Station. The crew isn’t in any danger and there’s no increased risk when we bring Suni and Butch back to Earth.
Starliners is designed to stay in space for over 200 days. The limit for this test flight was 45 days, but NASA is considering extending that limit, because the space station is doing a good job of making the batteries last longer.
The astronauts were supposed to launch last year, but Boeing discovered issues with the parachute system that would allow them to float back to Earth, and tape used to hold wiring that posed a fire risk. Fixing both issues pushed back the launch to this spring.
NASA took weeks to determine that the leaks didn’t pose a serious risk of himlium running out during the mission.
The space station had four of the five thrusters brought back online, but the spacecraft docked successfully. But NASA later disclosed it had found four additional helium leaks in different parts of the spacecraft, bringing the total to five.
NASA says that starting this week, it will be conducting extensive tests of a Starliner thruster at its White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M. The test thruster will be put through simulated launches, dockings and landing burns, to see if engineers can replicate the problems, and also confirm that the thrusters can safely be used to bring Williams and Wilmore home.
Steve Stiche, the program manager on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program told reporters that the plan for landing would be looked at once that testing was done. He says it could take several weeks.
Even before the latest press conference, news media was speculating that Williams and Wilmore might be stuck aboard the station. Boeing seems to bristle at the idea of it being a claim.
In a real pinch, NASA could use either a SpaceX Dragon capsule or a Russian Soyuz capsule to bring the duo home, but Forczyk doubts that will be necessary.
Source: ‘We’re not stuck.’ Why Boeing’s Starliner isn’t returning to Earth (yet)
Why Boeing’s Starliner isn’t returning to Earth (yet): Why the Aircraft Company has a Space Station
“I don’t see this as being anything critical, or life-threatening,” Forczyk says. They should be extra cautious because this vehicle is not operating as it should.
Forczyk notes that the problems with the helium system and the thrusters are located in Starliner’s service module, a section of the spacecraft that will be jettisoned before landing. She says that engineers may want to keep Starliners longer so they have more data before it burns up during a return to Earth.
“Butch and Suni got in the spacecraft, powered up the vehicle, closed the hatch, and were ready to execute … an emergency undock and landing,” Stich says.
In addition, the company, which received just $2.6billion, has completed eight regular crewed missions for NASA to the space station.
Ron Epstein, an analyst at Bank of America, says that the problems are part of bigger issues at the aerospace giant. He doesn’t think you have to look at it in isolation.
A door that flew off of an airplane earlier this year is one of the things that Boeing has seen.
“You have management teams over a number of years that have focused more on shareholder return than the core engineering business of the company,” he says.
Source: ‘We’re not stuck.’ Why Boeing’s Starliner isn’t returning to Earth (yet)
Is the Starliner a Core Problem of the Space Industry? An Interview with David Hultzmann at the Fermilab Tevatron
The first regular flight of Starliners will take place in February of 2020 and it is unclear if NASA will approve the new spaceship in time. Even if it did, it would likely conduct just a handful of flights before NASA retires the Space Station in 2030.
He states that Boeing management has made it clear to the investment community that Starliner and other aspects of space are not core to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company did not want to continue.
