With all the news lately about relatively young rocket companies that have successfully tossed their founders and some real astronauts into space, it may come as a surprise that the most experienced rocket company has not yet launched its new flagship rocket with the people Brought start. And after a further delay, there is now no fixed date for the launch of Boeing’s Starliner.
This setback is the latest in a series of them for the aerospace giant. Some were out of their control, such as a Russian module tossing the ISS around for a loop when the Starliner was supposed to launch, but many were, including this latest delay.
Discussion of some advantages and disadvantages of several manned room modules.
The company pointed out valves in the engine that weren’t set in the correct positions prior to the August 4th launch. After ruling out software as a possible cause, the company has not yet provided information about other causes or a schedule for implementing a fix. However, it recently said that it still hopes to hit the market sometime in August.
If the problem was with the software, it wouldn’t be the first time Starliner has suffered from bad code. On its original unmanned test flight in December 2019, a software bug caused its engines to misfire, leaving it with insufficient fuel to reach the ISS and force an emergency descent back to Earth. During this descent, the spacecraft experienced a “dire flight anomaly” – a euphemism for almost breaking apart. He managed to land safely in the White Sands Missile Range, and Boeing engineers set about diagnosing and fixing the problems.
View from inside the capsule during Starliner’s first, partially successful test flight in 2019.
Credit – Boeing YouTube Channel
These problems prove that rocket science is indeed difficult. Preliminary teething problems with a completely new rocket are not all that surprising. But Boeing doesn’t operate in a vacuum, and its competitors like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin all have had notable successful human aviation histories lately.
After Boeing originally received a NASA contract to develop human orbital capabilities to replace the shuttle, Boeing is no longer a leader as a missile company. It remains to be seen whether they can catch up with their younger, more agile competitors. But this further delay is certainly not a good sign.
Learn more:
Phys.org – Boeing Starliner launch postponed indefinitely
Space.com – Boeing’s Starliner is still hoping to launch in August despite technical issues
Washington Post – 13 valves failed to open on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, a more widespread problem than previously reported
cnet – NASA, Boeing Starliner launch to ISS on ice while spacecraft investigation continues
Mission statement:
Starliner perched on a ULA Atlas V rocket.
Credit – Boeing
Like this:
Loading…
Comments are closed.