Nick Hague, left, and Aleksandr Gorbunov, right. Photos from NASA and Roscosmos
NASA has made an official announcement regarding the roster for Crew 9, currently scheduled to fly to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon no earlier than September 24.
In a press release issued August 30, the agency said, “NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24, on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, previously announced as crewmates, are eligible for reassignment on a future mission.”
NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman Photo: NASA
They added that Hague and Gorbunov would fly to the space station as commanders and pilots on a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX Dragon. These changes were made to create room aboard Crew Dragon for Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, whose spacecraft will return to Earth on September 6 without the two aboard.
“I am deeply proud of our entire crew,” said Cardman said in the NASA press release, “and I am confident Nick and Alex will step into their roles with excellence. All four of us remain dedicated to the success of this mission, and Stephanie and I look forward to flying when the time is right.”
NASA Astronaut Stephanie Wilson Photo: NASA
Wilson added, “I know Nick and Alex will do a great job with their work aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72.”
NASA Chief Astronaut Joe Acabo said, “While we’ve changed crew before for a variety of reasons, downsizing crew for this flight was another tough decision to adjust to given that the crew has trained as a crew of four.”
NASA says it will share the reassignment details for Cardman and Wilson when they become available.
Starliner CST-100 in launch preparation, May 31, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA announced late yesterday that the agency will conduct the long-awaited Readiness Review for Boeing’s Starliner Crewed Flight Test on Saturday, August 24th. In that Review, the readiness of Starliner to return to Earth with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be analyzed by NASA leadership and a decision as to how the Starliner CFT mission will be ended may finally be made.
Also in the announcement, NASA said that they will hold a press conference shortly after the Readiness Review ostensibly to announce and discuss their descision.
What Will Be Decided?
NASA’s choice seems to be a simple one on the surface: return the astronauts in the Starliner capsule or eventually return them on a SpaceX Crew Dragon while Starliner returns to Earth autonomously.
The date of the Readiness Review has been delayed while NASA analyzed data from Boeing, Aerojet Rocketdyne and its own scientists and engineers, saying at the time that they needed the extra time for a more thorough analysis and more testing.
Ken Bowersox Photo: NASA
Last week, NASA’s Ken Bowersox, Associate Administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate said that NASA has the luxury of time on its side in order to come to a consensus on whether to return Williams and Wilmore to Earth on Starliner or in a Crew Dragon. “A flight readiness review around the end of next week, potentially beginning of the following week,” he said.
“We can juggle things and make things work if we need to extend, but it’s getting a lot harder,” Bowersox said. With the consumables we’re using, with, the need for the use of the ports for cargo missions, we’re reaching a point where that last week in August, we really should be making a call, if not sooner.”
The Crew Flight Test launched on June 5 on a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Designed to be an end-to-end test of the Starliner system, the flight was originally announced to be an eight-day mission, but by the time of its review it will have reached 80 days.
There’s nothing quite like a good, cold beer after a hot day’s work. Whether it’s mowing the lawn on a hot Florida morning or toiling deep in a mine in West Virginia, beer has been the beverage of choice for many — and it looks like that tradition will continue as travelers push into space. Researchers at The University of Florida in Gainesville have been looking into the process of brewing beer in the heavens and have come up with some interesting results that will inform future brewers.
UF’s Research
In a paper published June 19, 2024 in the journal “MDPI Beverages,” University of Florida researchers simulated the microgravity environment of space and found that yeast in a wort (raw beer) solution grew faster and also had fewer esters — the flavors yeast contributes to the final product. For many varieties of beer, muted yeast contributions are highly sought after, and in fact, it is a key component to the most popular forms of beer — lagers — which are brewed at very cool temperatures largely to prevent any yeast flavors.
The UF study says
The exploration of space is becoming more feasible, and with this comes the possibility of performing fermentations in microgravity. Our study explores the potential effects of microgravity on a standard brewing model fermentation. As the fermentation of barley wort has been studied for centuries, there is an established foundation of knowledge with which to compare any changes that occur under microgravity. A modified ASBC miniature fermentation protocol (Yeast-14) was conducted within a Yuri 2.0 microgravity chamber to examine the response of Saccharomyces pastorianus to simulated microgravity conditions. Our findings reveal that yeast exhibited accelerated growth rates under microgravity compared to standard conditions.
Commenting on the paper, “We are absolutely going to be conducting fermentations under microgravity in the future, as we continue space exploration, and there are going to be outcomes that will be very difficult for us to predict,” said study author Andrew MacIntosh, a UF/IFAS associate professor of food science. “It’s essential that we look at what some of those outcomes may be, now, so we can decide which processes are going to be the first ones we perform under microgravity, how we adapt them and how we can take advantage of the changes we see.”
In short, the processes of brewing beer in space are starting to be defined, and that might be something of great comfort to future space travelers and colonists. There’s a long way to go until that becomes a reality, of course, but the nuts and bolts of brewing science are starting to be assembled by this and other research that’s already been conducted.
Beer In Space?
“Space Barley” Photo: Sapporo Brewing
In 1994, Coors sponsored a space shuttle experiment to test the effects of microgravity on fermentation. Twelve years later in 2006, Japanese scientists first grew barley, one of the key ingredients in beer on ISS. Later, the Sapporo Brewery from Tokyo sold $110/US “Space Barley,” brewed using the fourth generation of that barley’s descendants.
In 2017, after announcing their (hopeful) plans to open the first brewery on Mars, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch flew barley seeds to ISS on the CRS-13 resupply mission to determine how well barley seeds would steep, germinate and dry in a microgravity environment.
Ironically, drinking beer or other alcoholic beverages on ISS is banned. In 2018, NASA issued a decree banning such drinks due to potential damages to the Station’s environmental and life support systems (ELCSS), its water processing systems, and carbonation causing gas bubbles in an astronaut’s digestive tract leading to adverse health outcomes.
A Short History of Beer
Beer has been around for as long as mankind has had civilization. That’s no overstatement — many historians point to beer as the reason that many early humans first settled down from a hunter-gatherer life and started farming grains:
[S]ince the 1950s, many scholars have found circumstantial evidence that supports the idea that some early humans grew and stored grain for beer, even before they cultivated it for bread.
Brian Hayden and colleagues at Simon Fraser University in Canada provide new support for this theory in an article published this month (and online last year) in the Journal of Archeological Method and Theory. Examining potential beer-brewing tools in archaeological remains from the Natufian culture in the Eastern Mediterranean, the team concludes that “brewing of beer was an important aspect of feasting and society in the Late Epipaleolithic” era.
Anthropological studies in Mexico suggest a similar conclusion: there, the ancestral grass of modern maize, teosinte, was well suited for making beer — but was much less so for making corn flour for bread or tortillas. It took generations for Mexican farmers to domesticate this grass into maize, which then became a staple of the local diet.
Sumerian tablet created during the 45th year of the reign of Shulgi, the King of Ur, in 2050 BC. It is a dated and signed receipt written by a scribe called Ur-Amma for the delivery of beer, by a brewer named Alulu. The text translates as “Ur-Amma acknowledges receiving from his brewer, Alulu, 5 sila (about 4 1/2 liters) of the ‘best’ beer.” Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Since then, beer in some form has always been a part of the human experience in many societies. The written histories of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia record the use of beer, as have many others. Sumeria and China also have a recorded history of the beverage. Remnants of brewing activity have been found in pottery in China that dates back over five millennia, and the oldest known beer recipe for beer comes from a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem rediscovered in what is modern-day Iraq.
In Europe, research has shown that beer was brewed at least 5,000 years ago, and the tradition has continued to modern-day mega breweries. The oldest continuously operating brewery, Weihenstephan, opened in Freising, Germany, in 1040 AD. Monks were involved in brewing beer in Germany, Belgium, and France throughout medieval times, and Germany passed its famous Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot) in 1516 by Bavarian noblemen, Duke Wilhelm IV, when he sought to ban the use of wheat in beer and to protect his subjects from high beer prices. Ironically, Weihenstephan, the oldest brewery, is famous today for its wheat brews.
How Is Beer Made?
At its heart, beer is a simple beverage: one takes grains, extracts the sugars from them in water through a slow heating process, then cools it down to room temperature and adds yeast. The yeast, now in an environment of high sugars, grows exponentially and breaks down the sugars into alcohol, carbonation, and other compounds (esters, phenols, etc.) that give beer its particular flavor. From start to finish, the process takes about 10-14 days at its most basic form.
Keen observers may notice the omission of hops from the previous description. Sometime between the sixth century and 900 AD, brewers experimented with using hops as a preservative and for flavor, but for thousands of years prior, they were not a part of brewing. Today, it is a rare beer with no hops in it.
What Other Uses Can This Research Be Used For?
Other foodstuffs that we often take for granted here on Earth use fermentation as part of their production process: bread, for example, rises as the yeast eats sugars in bread dough and inflates thanks to its expiration of carbon dioxide. Yogurt does not use yeast but bacteria in much the same way as beer and bread. Cheese also uses bacteria to convert milk products into the final product. Even vinegar is a fermented product.
All taken together, those foods, beer, wine, and even distilled alcohols like vodka and whisky will all go a long way toward the health and happiness of future space travelers.
Starliner CST-100 in launch preparation, May 31, 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA managers say they are close to a decision on when and how they plan to bring Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight test astronauts from the International Space Station. The mission was originally slated to run eight days, but the pair have been in orbit for sixty-three days since their June 5th launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station aboard an Atlas V.
“I don’t think we’re too far away from making that call,” Ken Bowersox, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Space Operations Mission Directorate said this afternoon. He added, “We know that at some point we need to bring Butch and Suni home [but] while they’re up there, we have extra crew, we have extra hands, they can do a lot more work, but they’re also using up more consumables, more supplies.”
“As we’ve said before, our prime option is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner, however, we have done the requisite planning to make sure we have other options open.”
Steve Stich, NASA’s Manager for the Commercial Crew Program, August 7, 2024
Bowersox added that Williams and Wilmore may not return on the Starliner spacecraft. “In the case that we have with the Starliner crew,” he said, “the option to either bring the crew home on the Starliner or to bring the crew home on another vehicle. We could take either path, and reasonable people could pick either path depending on where their view is on our position in the uncertainty bound that we have for the date.”
“We have been working with SpaceX to ensure that they are ready to respond on Crew 9 for a contingency of returning Butch and Suni on Crew 9,” Bowersox said. “If we need that we have set up the [Crew] Dragon for Crew 9 to have flexibility to have only two passengers fly up on that flight.”
One thing that NASA did not disclose is which two of the Crew 9 crew would potentially be taken off the mission should the need arise. “We’re not really ready to share the data on which crew members,” said Steve Stich. “I think we’ll do that at the appropriate time.”
Why The Uncertainty About Starliner?
Ken Bowersox from his days as a Space Shuttle astronaut. Photo: NASA
The reason for the uncertainty is well-documented: Starliner has thruster problems on its Service Module, and engineers and mission managers within NASA are not unanimous that the spacecraft can be safely flown until such time as the Starliner capsule would separate from its troubled SM and then begin re-entry.
Bowersox said, “We’ve got on the thruster system, on the propulsion system. Moving forward, what we’re trying to do is reduce that uncertainty, see if we can drive some more consensus, amongst our team at the same time getting more serious about evaluating our other options. It’s been really great to watch our team working, our Boeing team, our NASA team, the way people are speaking up; the way we’re hearing different voices, different thoughts on how critical different factors are in the decision.”
“I think it’s been very healthy,” Bowersox said, speaking about the debate behind the scenes. “I have to admit that sometimes when we get this agreement, it’s not fun. It can be painful having those discussions, but it’s what makes us a good organization and it’s what will get us to a good decision as we approach that point here in the future.”
“And I don’t think we’re too far away from making that call.”
Steve Stich Comments On Starliner Issues
Steve Stich, NASA’s Manager for the Commercial Crew Program, gave an in-depth rundown of the technical aspects of Starliner’s issues:
“I’ll talk a little bit more about the manifest changes we’ve made and what we’ve done to give ourselves some flexibility in the near term relative to all the options that we’re looking at. So, if we start with Starliner last time we talked a lot about testing results at White Sands, we had completed the thruster testing, which was essentially two uphill [ascent to ISS after launch] profiles trying to get to the temps that we saw on this particular thruster.”
Steve Stich Photo: from previous NASA livestream
“And then we really have done five downhill [undocking and free flight to reentry] profiles with that particular thruster. We were able to replicate degradation in the thruster during. That testing, and we saw that continually on the downhill side with the thruster thrust levels degrading over time, which seems to mimic what we’re seeing in flight to some extent during those downhill profiles, as we talked about during that testing, we gained insight into what we think one of the contributing factors are for that thrust degradation.”
Stich continued: “And that would be this Teflon seal on the oxidizer line poppet. Now, this poppet’s really small. It’s about, if you hold up your little pinky finger, it’s about the size of that. A little bit smaller even than your pinky finger. So it’s a small poppet. But what we saw during that testing is the swelling of that Teflon seal.”
A simplified poppet valve. The one causing the Starliner issue is undoubtedly a different design, and this one is presented in order to give a reader an idea of the basic construction of one. Graphic: instrumentationtools.com
“It kind of extruded a little bit. And what happens with that seal is it blocks the flow into the thruster itself, down into the combustion chamber. So we know that’s happening. We know we can get vaporization when it gets hot in that line, bringing propellant into the thruster.”
“And also when that poppet is blocked by the Teflon seal, we see some cavitation, in other words, unsteady flow across that poppet. We have some animation that we hope to be able to release soon to you. So you can see what this is like. Boeing has been doing a lot of work on that animation.”
“Hopefully, we can have them share that soon so you can get a better idea of that mechanism as well. We also have this same theory that has some vaporization of the propellant, right, and it drops the thrust. So there’s really two key things that we think is happening. One, when the thruster gets really hot, the propellant can vaporize.”
“That’s where we saw the really low thrust readings on docking day. And then as the poppet swells, we can get some blockage there. Based on what we learned at White Sands, what we’re trying to do now is sort of understand what all that data means to us from the white sands testing and then what it means to the thrusters on orbit.”
“We did do a hot fire while we’re docked to the International Space Station on Saturday, July 11. we wanted to understand the performance of all the thrusters across the vehicle. So we hot fired all 27 thrusters. We did not hot fire one thruster in the bottom doghouse.”
“We call it the B1-A3 thruster. That one had really low thrust before, during the dock when we were docking back on July 6. And so we did not. Or June 6, and we did not hot fire that thruster. The interesting thing when we hot fired the thrusters is all the thrusters now across the whole vehicle are essentially at nominal thrust level.”
“So, for example, the one that we saw the most degradation in the two. A two was at about 80% before the hot fire, and now it’s about 98%. So somehow, if the poppet is the theory of what’s causing the thrust degradation, the blockage in that ox flow, somehow that piece of Teflon must have contracted and is now not blocking the flow like it was.”
“And so we have a nominal flow, essentially, into that. Thruster and nominal thrust. What we’re really trying to do now, that gives us a lot of confidence in the thrusters, but we can’t totally prove with certainty what we’re seeing on orbit is exactly what’s been replicated on the ground.”
“We’re trying to understand a little bit more about the conditions that cause the thruster fail-offs. It’s not always at the same temperature. It’s not always at the same number of pulses. And so we’re trying to understand that we are doing modeling on the ground to try to understand how this Teflon could extrude what the forces are on that Teflon.”
“And then trying to understand how it could contract over time. People really want to understand the physics of what’s going on relative to the physics of the Teflon, what’s causing it to heat up, what’s causing it to contract. And that’s really what the team is off trying to understand. And then look ahead toward the downhill phase and the heating on the downhill phase and seeing if we can model that on the downhill phase and ensure we have good thrusters.”
“Again, we have really good knowledge of what the downhill is. But how does that really help us out?”
“In combination with that, we have tried to buy ourselves a little bit of time to work various options for return. And so recently, this week at the Program Control Board, just yesterday, we approved moving the Crew 9 mission to no earlier than September 24. We took that to the Program Control Board, and it was approved.”
— Steve Stich, August 7, 2024
Stich on Using Starliner As A Rescue Vehicle
Starliner CFT commander Butch Wilmore, May 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
“We have been working with SpaceX to ensure that they are ready to respond on Crew 9 for a contingency of returning Butch and Suni on Crew 9 if we need that. We have set up the dragon for Crew 9 to have flexibility to have only two passengers fly up on that flight,” Stich said.
“And then we could return four crew members in the February 2025 timeframe. And Butch and Suni would remain on station and become part of that increment and return home with them on Crew 9. Now, we haven’t approved this plan. In other words, we’ve done all the work to make sure this plan is there.”
“We have the suits identified to fly up on Crew 9. We have the seats set up so that we can fly multiple complement of people. But we have not turned that on formally, as that’s the path that we’re going to go down. But we wanted to make sure we had all that flexibility in place.”
“We’ll fly up the supplies needed on that Crew 9 flight, including any suits needed for butch and Suni. You know, we’ve done previous work with that for other contingencies. And we’ll have the foam inserts to work on all the seats for the various crew members.”
“So we’ve done a lot of contingency work and a lot of contingency planning for a lot of scenarios, but we think now we would have the whole waterfront covered. As I said, we haven’t really implemented planning for the mission for these things, but we have all the items in place to keep all the options on the table.”
That said, it appears that NASA is keeping its options open by thoroughly investigating and completing at least preliminary plans for the option of returning the Boeing Starliner CFT astronauts on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
At the end of the press conference several things were clear: first, that NASA is undecided on whether to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth using Starliner, second, that there are disagreements within NASA about doing that, and third, that returning on a SpaceX Crew Dragon is a very real possibility with planning already started for that option as a contingency.
Axiom 3 at LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. The Ax-4 crew will fly aboard a similar spacecraft. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
Axiom Space announced the crew for its planned Axiom 4 mission today. The company’s release stated that it is partnering with India, through the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Poland, with European Space Agency (ESA) support, and Hungary to send three national astronauts to the space station on Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4), the company’s next commercial human spaceflight mission to the orbiting laboratory.
Ax-4 Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański of ESA/Poland, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of Hungary will make up the crew for the flight, Axiom said.
“Ax-4 represents Axiom Space’s continued efforts to build opportunity for countries to research, innovate, test, and engage with people around the world while in low-Earth orbit,” said Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space.
Suffredini added that, “This mission broadens horizons for nations with ambitious goals of advancing scientific, technological, and economic pursuits. Our collaboration with ESA for a second time and the inclusion of Hungary and India underscores Axiom Space’s ability to cultivate global partners, expand the scope of exploration, and open up new avenues to grow a global space economy.”
Peggy Whitson
Dr. Peggy Whitson Photo: NASA
Dr. Peggy Whitson (Rice University, 1986) is one of the most experienced astronauts in spaceflight history, having already completed four previous spaceflights. She has spent more than 675 days in space and has flown on the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Crew Dragon on previous flights.
Her 289-day flight was the longest single space flight by a woman until Christina Koch’s 328-day flight eclipsed her record. Dr. Whitson is also oldest woman spacewalker ever and holds the record for the most spacewalks by a woman. She has conducted ten EVAs during her career, totalling over sixty hours outside in the darkness of space.
Dr. Whitson is 64 years old, and hails from Beaconsfield, Iowa. Axiom 4 will be her fifth spaceflight.
“I look forward to commanding my second commercial human spaceflight mission with Axiom Space,” said Peggy Whitson, Ax-4 commander. “With a culturally diverse crew, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also fostering international collaboration. Our previous missions set the stage. Axiom Mission 1 was the first all-private mission to the space station, Axiom Mission 2 launched the first Saudi female to space, and Axiom Mission 3 included both the first Turkish astronaut and first ESA astronaut to fly on a commercial space mission. Now, with Ax-4, we ascend even higher, bringing even more nations to low-Earth orbit and expanding humanity’s reach among the stars.”
Shubhanshu Shukla
Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla. (Photo: X/@IAF_MCC)
Born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, on October 10, 1985, wing commander Shubhanshu Shukla is an alumnus of India’s National Defence Agency, a joint-forces training academy for the Indian military.
Shukla was commissioned on June 17, 2006 in the Indian Air Force. He is a Fighter Combat Leader and a Test Pilot with approximately 2000 hours of flying experience.
Shukla will be India’s second gaganyatri – the Indian term for astronaut – in space. Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma was aboard the Indo-Soviet crewed mission in 1984, making him the first from his country to go space. This will be ISRO’s first crewmember to fly on an American flight destined for the International Space Station.
ISRO is also independently working on advanced development of crewed flight capability. ISRO’s Human Rated Launch Vehicle (or Gaganyaan) is an ongoing program developing the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low Earth orbit. Gaganyaan is ostensibly near its first of two uncrewed test flights, as the first flight’s latest projected launch is sometime this year. ISRO hopes to launch its first crew in 2025.
Gaganyaan capsule. Photo: ISRO
Group Captain Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla have been named for India’s first crewed flight of Gaganyaan, and undoubtedly, Shubhanshu Shukla’s training, flight experience and lessons learned from flying Crew Dragon on Axiom 4 will be of great aid to ISRO’s efforts to bring the Gaganyaan program to full fruition with a successful first mission.
Sławosz Uznański
Sławosz Uznański Photo: ESA
Born in Łódź, Poland in 1984, Dr. Sławosz Uznański is a Polish engineer working at the European Space Agency (ESA) as a project astronaut since 2023. He was formerly at The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN.)
He will be the second Pole to space, following Mirosław Hermaszewski in 1978. Hermaszewski flew on the Soviet Soyuz 30 spacecraft, and spent nearly eight days in Earth orbit.
He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry on batteries for hybrid cars and radiation protection for astronauts. For the last two years, he has worked on space radiation protection at Remred Space Technologies in the space industry. As a parachutist, he has 38 jumps under his harness.
Kapu will be the second Hungarian astronaut, and like Shubhanshu Shukla, he will be the first from his country to fly on an American spacecraft to ISS. Forty-four years ago, Bertalan Farkas became the first Hungarian astronaut. Farkas flew Soyuz 36 and docked for over 26 days at the Soviet Salyut-6 space station.
Astronauts In Training
The Axiom 4 crew have arrived in Houston, according to Axiom Space, and will now begin training for their flight, slated for NET October 2024. They will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 / Crew Dragon from Florida. Peggy Whitson will lead the training.
Axiom 3 liftoff in January 2024. The Ax-4 crew will fly a similar spacecraft NET October 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen being encapsulated inside the SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairing as it prepares to launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for the 21st Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services for NASA. The mission will carry 8,200 pounds of science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the International Space Station. Photo: NASA
(Article updated to include information from NASA and Dr. Jonathon McDowell 3PM August 5)
After a picture-perfect launch Sunday morning, Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 NG-21 (S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee) spacecraft encountered issues with its solar power array and its single engine.
NASA announced yesterday that there were issues with the solar arrays that powered the spacecraft, and that it had burned its first orbital correction engine burn intended to put Cygnus on a path towards ISS.
The solar array issue has been rectified, according to NASA
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft completed the deployment of its two solar arrays at 2:21 p.m. EDT after launching at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to the International Space Station for NASA.
Of equal concern is a problem with Cygnus’s engine, which experienced low pressure during its planned firing:
Shortly after launch, the spacecraft missed its first burn slated for 11:44 a.m. due to a late entry to burn sequencing. Known as the targeted altitude burn, or TB1, it was rescheduled for 12:34 p.m., but aborted the maneuver shortly after the engine ignited due to a slightly low initial pressure state. There is no indication the engine itself has any problem at this time.
Cygnus is at a safe altitude, and Northrop Grumman engineers are working a new burn and trajectory plan. The team aims to achieve the spacecraft’s original capture time on station, which is currently slated for 3:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
August 5 Update From NASA, Dr. Jonathon McDowell and NASA
Around 3PM EDT, NASA gave the following update:
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft continues on its way to the International Space Station following launch at 11:02 a.m. EDT Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Cygnus spacecraft completed the deployment of its two solar arrays at 2:21 p.m. the same day.
The Cygnus spacecraft has completed two delta velocity burns, and it remains on track for a capture by the space station’s robotic arm slated for 3:10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6. The spacecraft is in a safe trajectory, and all other systems are operating normally.
Shortly after launch on Sunday, the spacecraft performed as designed by cancelling a scheduled engine burn due to a slightly low initial pressure reading flagged by the Cygnus onboard detection system. Engineers at Northrop Grumman’s mission control center in Dulles, Virginia evaluated the pressure reading, confirmed it was acceptable and re-worked the burn plan to arrive at the space station on the originally planned schedule.
Dr. Jonathon McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and perhaps the most authoritative source concerning orbital objects also offered this update shortly after three today.
Cygnus has now performed two orbit correction burns according to NASA (although they didn't say when the burns occur or what the delta-V values were).
From all appearances, Northrup Grumman, IHI Aerospace and NASA have rectified the issues that seemed to imperil the NG-21 mission on its first full day in space. Hopefully, Cygnus’s problems are behind it, and the spacecraft will bring some much-needed supplies and items to ISS as planned.
About Cygnus’s Engine
Cygnus is an American cargo spacecraft designed for expendable logistics missions to the International Space Station (ISS). It features two main components: the Service Module (SM) and the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). The Service Module includes 32 thrusters for attitude control and a BT-4 main engine, which burns 800 kg (1,800 lb) of hypergolic propellants—hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.
Photo: satcatalog.com / IHI Aerospace
The BT-4 engine, a pressure-fed liquid rocket engine, is developed and manufactured by IHI Aerospace of Japan. IHI Aerospace has manufactured and delivered over 200 bipropellant thrusters for spacecraft since the start of development in the 1980s.
Falcon 9 sitting on the launch mount at Space Launch Complex on August 3. 2024. After a beautiful sunrise, conditions slowly deteriorated Satruday. The launch was scrubbed at around 10AM later the same day. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Official Forecast Has Low Confidence In A Clean Range Weatherwise
After Saturday’s scrub, SpaceX stated it would attempt to launch Falcon 9 and the Northrup Grumman Cygnuns NG-21 mission towards the International Space Station Sunday morning.
“SpaceX is targeting Sunday, August 4 for Falcon 9’s launch of Northrop Grumman’s 21st Cygnus mission (NG-21) to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 11:02 a.m. ET.”
Why Saturday’s Attempt Was Scrubbed
About 90 minutes before Saturday’s planned liftoff at 11:21 AM EDT, a line of heavy thundershowers brushed over Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Launch Complex 40. Another squall line with anvil clounds with potential lightning was heading towards the Cape when mission managers made the call to waive off the attempt for the day.
The launch window was instantaneous, meaning SpaceX could not delay the launch time to let the storms pass.
Weather Forecasters Not Confident For Sunday
The 45th Weather Squadron is pessimistically rating Sunday’s chances at only 10% GO:
Via 45th Weather Squadron Retrieved August 3. 2024 02:00 PM EDT
Their discussion is nearly as dismal as the launch chances: “The Space Coast will remain on the eastern side of the system upon its slow approach Sunday, with fast moving squalls bringing numerous rounds of heavy rain and strong winds. As a result, the Probability of Violation (POV) is very high for the initial launch window Sunday morning,” says the 45th.
“For the backup launch window Monday morning, the weather will remain poor with a similar POV as deep tropical moisture lingering as the Tropical System slides into the Florida Big Bend and Northeast Florida. Winds will remain strong with tropical squalls moving through Central Florida.”
But, it’s Florida, and a one in ten chance can end being all that SpaceX needs to successfully launch and land Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Falcon 9 lifts off in January lofting the Northrup Grumman NG-21 payload towards ISS. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Update: 12 PM EDT Saturday
A wave of thunderstorms passed through the Cape Canaveral area around 90 minutes before liftoff Saturday, forcing SpaceX to stand down from its launch attempt today.
Due to unfavorable weather, we are standing down from today's launch of @northropgrumman's NG-21 mission. Next launch opportunity is Sunday, August 4 → https://t.co/bsNx0Xb6I3
The company said in a latter post on X.com that they would try again tomorrow, but with a 90% Probability of Violation and an approaching tropical system off of Florida’s west coast, the chances of that don’t seem very high. Monday’s forecast is equally squirrelly as the system is forecast to arc through northern Florida, creating storm squalls and windy conditions across the state.
On the other hand, it’s Florida and the weather here can be unpredictable. So, we’ll see when SpaceX can get this launch off of the pad.
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SpaceX is planning to launch Falcon 9 carrying the NG-21 ISS Resupply mission for Northrup Grumman. Liftoff Saturday morning is set 11:28 AM EDT (1538Z) in an instantaneous window from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
SpaceX plans for the booster to return and land at Landing Zone 1 in Cape Canaveral. The Space Coast will hear a sonic boom from the booster as it herald’s its return, which should happen approximately 7.5 minutes after liftoff.
Weather is a major concern for this launch, as a tropical disturbance’s passing to the west in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to bring heavy rains to the Space Coast over the weekend. Current forecasts are calling for weather to arrive sometime Saturday, so the timing of the storm coupled with the normal storm activity of Florida in summer leaves forecasters calling the chances of acceptable weather a coin flip with a 50% chance of a Probability of Violation at launch time.
At A Glance
Mission: Northrup Grumman NG-21
Date: NET August 3, 2024
Launch Window: 11:28AM EDT (1528 Zulu)
Weather: 50% GO at launch time
Organization: SpaceX
Rocket: Falcon 9
Trajectory: Northeastward
Launch Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Booster Landing: Landing Zone 1, CCSFS
Payload: Cygnus CRS-2 NG-21 (S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee)
Destination: International Space Station
Payload
Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus (S.S. Francis R. “Dick” Scobee) cargo spacecraft, loaded with scientific investigations, supplies, and equipment.
Graphic: NASA
According to NASA, the payload includes:
Test articles to evaluate liquid and gas flow through porous media found in space station life support systems.
Microorganisms known as Rotifers to examine the effects of spaceflight on DNA repair mechanisms.
A bioreactor to demonstrate the production of many high-quality blood and immune stem cells.
Vascularized liver tissue to analyze the development of blood vessels in engineered tissue flown to the space station.
Weather
General Forecast
The forecast at launch time looks relatively benign:
Temperature
28.9°C
Humidity
~65%
Precipitation
None, Probably
Cloud cover
Variable
Windspeed (at ground level)
10-15 MPH / 4.5-6.7 m/s
Visibility
~16.5 miles / 27.0 km
Official Launch Forecast
The 45th Weather Squadron’s discussion in their launch forecast mentions the tropical system noted above. “All eyes will remain on Potential Tropical Cyclone Four (PTC 4) as it lifts out of the Greater Antilles and into the Gulf of Mexico. The official forecast from the National Hurricane Center has the system becoming a named storm Saturday and skirting the western Florida Peninsula Sunday, potentially making landfall as a Tropical Storm anywhere from the Florida Big Bend to southwest Florida.
Regardless of where the center of the storm makes landfall, the Space Coast will be on the eastern side of the system, and weather is likely to deteriorate with time from Saturday afternoon into Sunday. For the initial launch window, scattered showers are expected to approach the coastline out of the southeast and potentially move onshore.”
Their primary concerns that could necessitate a delay are: the Cumulus Cloud Rule, Surface Electric Fields Rule, and Thick Cloud Layers Rule.
via 4th Weather Squadron Retrieved 1600 EDT, 08/02/2024
Trajectory
Northeastwards.
Landing
The booster used for this mission, B1080, will land at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
A Falcon Heavy side booster firing up its engines to land last month at Cape Canaveral Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: NG-21 Mission. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about five minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Next Space Flight an app for iOS and Android phones, has a real-time countdown clock that is accurate to a second, give or take. The app is free. Search the App Store or Google Play. They are also on the web: nextspaceflight.com.
Launch Viewing: In Person
This morning’s planned launch is from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, which means that the best direct views of liftoff are:
Banana River Bridge on FL-528 W near Port Canaveral, where you will be able to see ignition, liftoff and the booster landing. Free.
Kennedy Space Center Vistor’s Center. From Apollo/Saturn V Center. Premium Launch Transportation Ticket. Bleacher seating is available, expert commentary, and closer view of the launch from across Banana Creek. Landing is pretty far away, relatively speaking. $70 for the launch viewing ticket plus entrance fees and parking. If you choose this go very early — lines will be long!
There are several excellent viewing spots for SLC-40 launches that offer indirect views — meaning you won’t see the rocket until it clears obstructions such as trees, buildings, even a storm berm in one case.
Parking fees (probably). Pay with your smartphone on the parking app. There are signs everywhere telling you how.
Further away, but still good views. Launch and landing is indirect.
Northern Titusville Parks
Further away, but really nice views after liftoff.
You won’t see the landing directly, but instead from a good distance away.
Restaurants With Good Launch Views
The Space Bar ($$$) – atop the Courtyard Marriott near Kennedy Parkway
New York New York ($$) – on the Indian River with an outdoor seating area. Is family-friendly.
Shiloh’s ($$$) — located on the Indian River with an outdoor deck overlooking KSC/CCSFS
Playalinda Beach
Playalinda Beach out on the Cape Canaveral National Seashore should be open to spectators until 8 PM EDT, that is if KSC Security and the National Park Service allow viewers for the launch. Generally, they have been, but security concerns can differ for each launch. It opens to visitors at 6 AM.
If you are going to Playalinda, and if it is open, remember these general tips. Some may not apply to this particular launch.
Get there at least two hours early, or better, earlier than that. Lines are long at the entry gate and they will only allow as many spectator vehicles as there are parking space available.
Cape Canaveral National Seashore has a fee to get in and cash is not accepted. Debit and credit cards are okay, or if you have one of the National Park Service’s passes for the Seashore or the National Parks, that will work as well.
Cellphone service is spotty at best and often non-existent at Playalinda. Don’t count on your cellphone to keep up with the launch; you might get a signal, or you might not.
You are not allowed to view from the pullouts on Beach Road. Stanchions will block them. You’ll have to park and go to the beach.
Refreshments are not available. There are no stores at Cape Canaveral National Seashore, so you’ll need to bring drinks and food if you want any while you’re there.
Rangers will keep you back a certain distance from the launch area on the beach. Even if the beach is open, you’ll still be unable to go down to the fence that demarcates the normal security zone. There’s a line that spectators can’t go past somewhat north of the fence. That’s for safety and security.
Be prepared for potential changes or pushbacks in the launch schedule, and keep up by monitoring the live stream links mentioned above.
Booster: B0180
SpaceX states on their website, “This is the tenth flight of the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Ax-2, Euclid, Ax-3, CRS-30, SES ASTRA 1P, and four Starlink missions.”
That’s Booster B1080.
Booster B1080
Flight Number
Mission
Date
1
Axiom-2
May 21, 2023
2
Euclid
July 1, 2023
3
Starlink 6-11
August 27 2023
4
Starlink 6-24
October 22, 2023
5
Axiom-3
January 18, 2024
6
CRS-30
March 21, 2024
7
Starlink 6-52
April18, 2024
8
Starlink 6-62
May 23, 2024
9
Astra 1P / SES-24
June 20, 2024
B1080 record as of June 20, 2024
Countdown Timeline
Hr/Min/Sec
Event
00:38:00
SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00
RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00
1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00
2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00
Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
00:01:00
Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00
Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
00:00:45
SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03
Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00
Falcon 9 liftoff
via SpaceX
Launch, Landing and Deployment
Hr/Min/Sec
Event
00:01:08
Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members (pictured from left to right) NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi. Photo: NASA
NASA announced the members of the Crew-10 mission to ISS today. They slated to fly to ISS no earlier than February of next year aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon and Falcon 9.
NASA astronauts Commander Anne McClain and Pilot Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov will join astronauts at the orbiting laboratory next year.
Anne McClain
Anne McClain Photo: NASA
This will be McClain’s second spaceflight. She was selected as an astronaut in 2013 and is a colonel in the U.S. Army. McClain earned her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and holds master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering, International Security, and Strategic Studies.
The Spokane, Washington, native is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. She has more than 2,300 flight hours in 24 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, including more than 800 in combat, and was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Rugby Team.
On her first spaceflight, McClain spent 204 days as a flight engineer during Expeditions 58 and 59 and was the lead on two spacewalks, totaling 13 hours and 8 minutes. Since then, she has served in various roles, including branch chief and space station assistant to the chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office.
Nichole Ayers
Nichole Ayers Photo: NASA
Ayers is a major in the U.S. Air Force and the first member of NASA’s 2021 astronaut class set to fly to space. The Colorado native graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a minor in Russian.
She later earned a master’s in Computational and Applied Mathematics from Rice University in Houston. Ayers served as an instructor pilot and mission commander in the T-38 ADAIR and F-22 Raptor, leading multinational and multiservice missions worldwide. She has more than 1,400 total flight hours, including more than 200 in combat.
Ayers is also a former athlete, and was a member of the academy’s varsity volleyball team.
Takuya Onishi
Takuya Onishi Photo: JAXA
The Crew 10 flight will be Onishi’s second trip to the International Space Station. After being selected by JAXA in 2009, he flew as a flight engineer for Expeditions 48 and 49 became the first Japanese astronaut to robotically capture the Cygnus spacecraft. He has spent 113 days in space. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Tokyo and was a pilot for All Nippon Airways, flying more than 3,700 flight hours in the Boeing 767.
He also constructed a new experimental environment aboard Kibo, the station’s Japanese experiment module. Since his spaceflight, Onishi became certified as a JAXA flight director, leading the team responsible for operating Kibo from JAXA Mission Control in Tsukuba, Japan.
Kirill Peskov
Kirill Peskov Photo: Roscosmos
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission also will be Peskov’s first spaceflight. Before his selection as a cosmonaut in 2018, he earned a degree in Engineering from the Ulyanovsk Civil Aviation School and was a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft for airlines Nordwind and Ikar. Assigned as a test-cosmonaut in 2020, he has additional experience in skydiving, zero-gravity training, scuba diving, and wilderness survival.
NASA’s Steve Stich and Boeing’s Mark Nappi provided an update on the Starliner CFT flight today in a teleconference. They stated that while no return date has been set for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return aboard the spacecraft, the agency and Boeing are relatively close to a Readiness Review that must be conducted prior to Starliner undocking from ISS and returning to Earth. According to NASA, that review may come as soon as the end of next week — or August 2, 2024.
“I think we’re starting to close in on those final pieces of the flight rationale to make sure that we can come home safely,” said Steve Stich.
Below are in-depth comments given by Stich and Nappi.
Addressing Returning On SpaceX Crew Dragon
Steve Stich was asked what the backup plan was if Williams and Wilmore could not return on Starliner. “Obviously, the luxury in our program today, and we’ve never really had this option in other NASA programs, is we have two different systems that we’re flying,” Stich replied. “Obviously, the backup option is to use a different system. I would rather not go into all those details until we get to that time, if we ever get to that time on what we plan to do.
“The beauty of having Dragon and Starliner in two different diverse space transportation systems is we can kind of use those as backups someday. Starliner could be a backup to a Dragon mission, and we’ve looked at all kinds of different contingencies for that. You’ve seen the Russians send up an empty Soyuz, right, to return a crew when they had a coolant leak.”
“I think the beauty of what we have in commercial crew is two different systems, and we would employ those systems if we need to, but we really have our team focused on as we close in on this final flight rationale: returning, uh, Butch and Suni on Starliner,” said Stich.
When asked to clarify his remarks, Stich said, “Our prime option is to complete the mission. There is a lot of good reasons to complete this mission, and bring Butch and Suni home on Starliner. Starliner was designed as a spacecraft to have the crew in the cockpit. The crew is integral to the spacecraft.”
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore prior to launching aboard Starliner. Photo: NASA
He added, “There’s a lot of objectives for the flight: having Butch and Suni on board during the deorbit burn and during the entry. Understanding how they monitor the system, how they work with the seat suit interface for landing, getting suited up in the vehicle. And then there’s a whole process of landing and recovery team that we really want to demonstrate before we get into [the] Starliner-1 mission.”
That said, Stich did not specifically rule out using Crew Dragon as a rescue vehicle, but he did make it clear that the current plan is to use Starliner to return the astronauts to Earth after a Readiness Review is completed.
NASA’s Steve Stich’s Comments
“We don’t have a major announcement today relative to a return date,” NASA’s program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program said today at the opening of the press conference. He added, “We’re making great progress, but we’re just not quite ready to do that.”
Steve Stich, NASA program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program in today’s press conference. Photo: from NASA livestream
Later, Stich added, “We’ll work to execute an agency review as soon as we’re ready to do that. That could be as early as late next week. We are following the data and we’ll schedule that review when we need to, and then after that, we’ll set the undock time.”
Parsing Stich’s comments, it is important to note that the agency review could be as soon as next week, but may be delayed further as mission managers and engineers review data from both the Crewed Flight Test Starliner in orbit — “Calypso” — and testing being conducted on the ground in New Mexico.
“I’ve said before, the key attributes of the flight rationale, really, are that we understand the helium leaks, we understand the stability of the leaks, and how we can manage those should they get bigger,” Stich said.
Stich also said that, “We have a criteria in place that we have established, a leak rate that will check before undock and verify that system is good to go.”
A test of Calypso’s thrusters will also be conducted this weekend, while the spacecraft remains docked to ISS. “The hot fire test this weekend will give us confidence in all the thrusters,” Stich said. “Then [we will have] the understanding coming out of White Sands relative to what that testing means and how it applies to the rest of the thruster system.”
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is seen after it landed in White Sands, New Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019. The landing completes an abbreviated Orbital Flight Test for the company that still meets several mission objectives for NASA’s Commercial Crew program. The Starliner spacecraft launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 6:36 a.m. Friday, Dec. 20 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Essentially, it sounds like Boeing and NASA will compare ground tests from White Sands to the results they get from Calypso while it is in orbit.
Stich gave further detail. “Really, it’s about the key use of the thrusters for the deorbit burn; that’s the next time we use them. We know the thermal environment is less for the deorbit burn. We know the stressing cases on the thrusters are less.”
Stich concluded his opening remarks by saying “That’s really, I think, the final pieces of the flight rationale that we need to put together. The team is doing great. The joint Boeing and NASA team is doing well. They’re working side by side with each other every day.”
Boeing’s Mark Nappi’s Comments
Nappi is the vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. He leads the development, flight test, certification and missions of the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner system.
Nappi opened his comments in today’s press conference by saying, “Last time we talked to you, we had 33 actions to complete in order to get to a place wherewe thought we had a good vehicle to come home and we could learn something about the root cause [of the thruster problems.] Of course, the long pull to those actions was all the testing at White Sands that Steve [Stich] talked about. At the time, we believed we had thrusters that were healthy, and we concluded we were good for emergency return.”
Boeing’s vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program in today’s press conference. Photo: NASA, from their livestream.
Nappi then went into further detail. “Remember, we said we did not have root cause and know what it was going to take to fix it permanently. So, we said, let’s take the time, let’s figure this out. Let’s run this testing at White Sands. If there’s anything more we can do after that testing while we’re docked to ISS, let’s take advantage of that, and then we’ll come home.”
“I think the plan has played out really well. In addition, it’s given us additional confidence to undock and return, and we have a little bit more work to do, as Steve has outlined.”
Nappi Gives A Thorough Breakdown Of Recent Activities
The following is a breakdown of Starliner’s status and testing that Mark Nappi provided today. While it is lengthy, readers may find it worthwhile to read in order to understand what has been done and what the current status of the spacecraft is.
“First of all, let’s start with the helium system. We have a service module at White Sands that was exposed to propellant. And it’s been exposed for about three years. So it was a really good test case to go and do some leak checks on and then take that hardware apart.”
“We did those leak checks. We found leaks. Of cours it’s been exposed to NTO [nitrogen tetroxide] for quite a while. We took the hardware apart, and we found pretty good degradation of the seals, which indicated that they had been exposed to NTO and degraded. So that was a really, really good data point, both from the standpoint of finding out that it had degraded seals.”
“But also we could capture a leak rate, which could end up being our worst case kind of leak rate, because this hardware was exposed for so long. On the second part of the testing, of course, was the thruster testing. Steve outlined that testing, but it was very stressful testing of that thruster through ATP uphill and approach and docking, some increased temperature profiles, um, and some very stressful downhill runs.”
“So all of that was done with the thruster, very heavily instrumented, which gave us a lot of. Information. From that information, and, of course, from theinspections after the test, we’ve determined two things. One is that there’s some teflon from a seal where the nto enters the thruster, and that seal was eroded.”
“And when we looked downstream from that seal, we found that material was lodged in a downstream filter. That is where the NTO goes through. Obviously, that restricts flow of Nto and may be part of the cause of the degradation that we’ve seen in flight. The bigger finding was where the nto goes through a port, to where it gets to the injector inside the thruster, and there’s a poppet that opens and closes and allows that nto to go through at the end of that poppet.”
“Very small poppet. It’s similar to the small inflation valve that you have on a car tire or a bike tire. That poppet has a Teflon seal at the end of it through the heating and the natural vacuum that occurs with the thruster firing. That poppet seal was deformed and actually bulged out a little bit, and again, was an indication that it’s restricting the nto from going through the system.
“So, again, a really good finding. When we looked at the information, we looked at the data, it really does replicate well what we’re seeing in flight. So we think these findings are very significant and are likely the root cause. Obviously, knowing root cause is what gets us to permanent fixes.”
“So there’s very strong evidence, and we’re going to continue to take that hardware apart so that we can finally prove this. Today we’re performing the final hardware inspections, and we’re doing some flow analysis through that type of valve arrangement where we have Teflon in the seal or, excuse me, Teflon in the filter, and this bulging of the Teflon at the end of the poppet.
And we’d like to see if we can model this restriction of nto and recreate what we’re seeing in flight. With all these test results we determined that we could run one more set of tests while we’re docked, and it’s really icing on the cake for us.
So, Steve talked about the one more docked hot fire test that’s going to verify all the thrusters are acceptable at the acceptable performance levels. Again, we learned something from this flight. We didn’t know that other visiting vehicles do this before they leave. And so we’re probably going to make that part of our normal regime when we are doing long duration missions.”
“Also, we’re going to do the helium manifold leak checks again. That will give us some data points on how stable the leaks are and assure there’s no additional NTO degradation. Lastly we have a very valuable guidance, navigation and control integrated performance model that was incorporating failures to answer the question, what if we’re wrong on some of these?”
“So they ran over 300 cases. And of all those cases, the results were either green, that we could return home safely or were determined to be not credible, or they had operational controls that could be applied to make sure that we returned home safely. So what’s next?”
“We’re going to share the data and flight rationale with the mission management team. We have one more meeting tomorrow to do that. We’ll use the weekend if required. We’re going to perform the stocking tests that we’ve described and then of course, there’ll be more reviews.”
“We’ll bring the complete story to the agency for the undoc review sometime next week, like Steve has outlined and then we’ll be ready to execute the last part of the mission. The last several weeks have been really helpful to understand the helium and thruster anomalies and how to address these problems for future flights.”
“That’s been the real goal here is to be able to address future flights and to gain the confidence that we needed for this mission. Weneed to take the time to get the community all this information and get back to completing the CFT mission. Our mission was to get the crew to ISS.”
“That’s been completed. Our mission was to learn from a flight test. A lot of the learning that we’ve achieved so far really, in my opinion, could only be achieved through the flight test. And now it’s time to get on with returning the crew safely. And there’s that step left to go.”
If you are interested, you can watch the entire press conference here:
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