Good day all. A few weeks ago, NASA launched the first manned mission of the Starliner rocket. It went into orbit and docked with the International Space Station. However, there were problems with the rocket that made people worry over the safety of the crew if they returned to Earth in it.
First a little background. The Starliner is a space capsule that can carry up to 7 crewmen and about 200 pounds of cargo. (That seems a bit low) The capsule was designed by Boeing and is seen as a competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon. As is almost always the case, the Boeing Starliner suffered delays and cost overruns.
Now the issues with the Starliner concern the propulsion and steering systems. NASA and Boeing attempted to fix the issues from the ground. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to and basically the Starliner lost it’s certification for manned flight. NASA will be bringing the capsule down without the crew on board in case something goes wrong and it burns up on reentry.
This means the two Starliner pilots are stranded on the ISS until next year. At that time, it will be Elon Musk’s SpaceX using the Crew Dragon to bring them home. Here are some of the details from CNBC:
Boeing will return its Starliner capsule from the International Space Station without the NASA astronauts that it delivered to orbit in early June, the agency announced on Saturday August 24th.
With Starliner coming back to Earth empty, NASA will now have astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is expected to launch its ninth regular mission to the ISS for the agency on Sept. 24.
There is a small problem with bringing the Starliner crew home. They won’t be able to come back until February 2025 when the ISS crew is rotated. The Starliner crew’s space suits are not compatible with the SpaceX Crew Dragon life support systems. (Gee, I wonder why? Oh, I know! NASA’s “Not invented here” mentality) SpaceX will have to put together suits for the two Starliner astronauts and bring them up.
The decision to bring Starliner back from the ISS empty marks a dramatic about-face for NASA and Boeing, as the organizations were previously adamant that the capsule was the primary choice for returning the crew.
I have a suspicion that the crew might have had some input into the decision to hitch a ride from Elon Musk’s version of Uber. (Space Uber?) They probably have an aversion to being reduced to ash if the Starliner burned up.
“Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to get the necessary data to make this decision,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference with top NASA officials at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday. “We want to further understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner will serve as an important part of our assured crew access to the ISS.”
Oh I think we can hazard a guess as to the “Root causes” of the problems with the Starliner. Boeing. This is the same company that built the 737 MAX and neglected a few things like Quality Assurance and using competent, experienced Avionics designers.
NASA also has some issues, but they are still dealing with the Space Shuttle failures that destroyed to shuttles with the loss of their crews. While they do have a lot of politics in their decision making process, they also understand that killing another crew might just be the end of NASA.
NASA will now conduct another phase of its Flight Readiness Review to determine when to bring the empty Starliner home.
If I recall correctly, the Starliner basically sprung a leak in the fuel system. I don’t know what the fuel loss is, but eventually, that piece of junk is going to run out. After that, who knows what will happen. (They might just push it into a reentry trajectory to safely destroy it to prevent it from becoming a hazard to navigation)
Boeing officials had been adamant in press briefings that Starliner was safe for the astronauts to fly home in the event of an emergency, despite delaying the return multiple times. NASA said there was a “technical disagreement” between the agency and the aerospace company, and said it evaluated risk differently than Boeing for returning its crew.
I can see how that discussion went.
Boeing: “The Starliner might have a few minor issues, but it’s perfectly safe to use to bring the crew home. There is no need to make them wait until Elon Musk can get a Crew Dragon up there to rescue them. We stake our reputation on this!”
NASA: “737 MAX issues, 777 wheel falling off, shall we continue?”
Boeing:
Nonetheless, NASA officials repeatedly expressed support for Boeing, and Nelson said he was “100% certain” that Starliner would be able to launch with a crew again someday.
This is yet another black eye for both NASA and Boeing. For NASA, they are showing that they are still having some issues with checking and rechecking spacecraft. For Boeing? Yeah, this is yet another kick to the groin for them. They are having some very serious management issues that need to be resolved, and this might require starting at the top and working there way down. (Good bye CEO, So Long Human Resources managers using DEI instead of actual qualifications when hiring, etc)
Space travel is dangerous and everyone knows this. However, you need to do everything you can to make sure that major incidents, like your ride home springing a leak in the gas tank doesn’t happen. There will always be something that is missed or just not thought of. NASA needs to get back to their Apollo 13 days where they did the impossible and brought a crew people thought were doomed home safely. At least they made the right decision to swallow their proud and call Elon Musk and ask for a ride.
***Minor Update***
The 737 MAX Starliner has returned. No word on what damage it sustained or what parts might have arrived ahead of the main capsule.
Thatisall
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