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 ‘Calypso’ on its way to the launch pad earlier this year. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
NASA announced today that Starliner will undock from the International Space Station September 6th and return to Earth September 7th.
Starliner launched on June 5th for what was originally planned to be an eight day mission. Since that time, Boeing, NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne have been assessing issues with Starliner’s service module thrusters and working towards a decision whether to return with or without Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two NASA astronauts who launched aboard the spacecraft.
The decision was made last week to return Starliner uncrewed and today’s announcement sets the stage for the end of Boeing’s part of the Starliner Crewed Flight Test. Williams and Wilmore remain aboard ISS, and will join Crew-9’s roster when it arrives at Station in late September. That mission will be flown using a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
NASA and Boeing concluded a detailed Delta-Flight Test Readiness Review on Thursday, polling “go” to process with undocking of the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft no earlier than 6:04 p.m. EDT of Friday, Sept. 6, from the International Space Station, pending weather and operational readiness.
After undocking, Starliner will take about six hours to reach the landing zone at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. The spacecraft will touch down about 12:03 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, descending under parachutes and with inflated airbags to cushion the impact. Recovery teams at the landing will safe and prepare the spacecraft for a return to Boeing’s Starliner factory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Boeing Starliner Crewed Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams prior to launching aboard Starliner in May 2024.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced today that Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will not return to Earth on Boeing Starliner and will be aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
“NASA has decided that Butch and Sunny will return with Crew-9 next February and that Starliner will return uncrewed,” he said in a press conference Saturday afternoon. The decision was made following an agency-level review of Starliner’s flight safety risk.
Administrator Nelson added, “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.” He continued, saying, “I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work.”
The Problem With Starliner
NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters on June 6 as Starliner approached the space station.
Starliner CST-100 leaving the Boeing facility at Kennedy Space Center on its way to the launch pad. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville.
Since then, engineering teams have completed a significant amount of work, including reviewing a collection of data, conducting flight and ground testing, hosting independent reviews with agency propulsion experts, and developing various return contingency plans. The uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence does not meet the agency’s safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight, thus prompting NASA leadership to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission.
Crew 9 is currently scheduled to launch NET September 24. However, the crew will be reduced to two astronauts to clear seats for Wilmore and Williams to be aboard next year when Crew 9’s mission on the ISS concludes.
“This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one,” said Jim Free, NASA’s Associate Administrator. Free thanked the engineers working on the issue, noting that many continued working through significant events such as a death in the family and children returning to school. Free praised those employees for their dedication and effort.
Starliner’s Mission Continues, Albeit With No Crew
After today’s decision, Boeing made the following announcement:
During today’s Agency Flight Readiness Review, NASA decided to autonomously return Starliner from the International Space Station. pic.twitter.com/rVkYhVSJPR
For its part, Starliner’s flight will continue, albeit in an uncrewed, automated fashion. NASA stated that a second Readiness Review will be conducted prior to that occurring, and that it would happen soon.
Boeing and NASA engineers have been working on reconfiguring the flight software to allow Starliner to undock and reenter without crew. The completion date was not given.
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.
Boeing’s Starliner and Service Module in May. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
The neverending story of the Boeing Starliner Test Flight continues, and NASA held a press briefing today to update the press and the public about progress toward resolving the troubled test flight. The news, in two words, is “no news.”
NASA is still studying Starliner data, still working to understand exactly what the current and future situation is with Starliner and whether it is safe to return the two astronauts aboard the spacecraft. Meanwhile, parallel work on other options continues: software changes are in process, and NASA and SpaceX are still determining the best way to return the Boeing CFT astronauts on Crew Dragon.
While there was decision announced today, the tone and tenor of NASA officials suggested that on may well be coming soon, as the port Starliner is currently docked at will soon be needed for other missions.
In parallel to data analysis and risk assessments of Starliner, NASA is working on testing and then updating Starliner’s software to fly autonomously, if needed, is continuing to develop plans to return the crew on Crew Dragon, and preparing for CFT astronauts to become Expedition Crew in the meantime. The astronauts are healthy and fine, are integrated into ISS activities and workloads, and say they are relying on ground controllers to make the right call.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard ISS. Photo: NASA
While NASA continues their analysis and deliberations behind the scenes even though it looks like nothing much is going on from an outside perspective. That’s far from the case as mission managers, scientists and engineers from across the spectrum of NASA’s technology portfolio and from Boeing and associated contractors are working on this issue. In short, don’t be fooled by the quiet on the surface and any lack of announcements, NASA is conducting a thorough analysis as quickly as possible.
“We don’t have any major announcements today.”
The press conference opened with Ken Bowersox, a former astronaut and the associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate stating plainly that, “We don’t have any major announcements today.” In other words, no decision on how and when Starliner Crewed Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return to Earth.
Bowersox also said, “Our technical experts are all busy, diving deeply into all the data that’s been generated over the past few weeks, going through the feedback of new, propulsion system experts that have been brought in, looking at planning for our return options and, preparing for, some decision points that are ahead, at the program control board, and eventually a flight Readiness Review.”
That date of that Readiness Review has been shifted right, with Bowersox saying, “A flight readiness review around the end of next week, potentially beginning of the following week.” He added that NASA has the luxury of time on its side in order to come to a consensus, conclusion and a final decision, but that time is starting to run out.
When asked about the extended presence of Starliner on one of the very few docking ports at ISS, Bowersox said, “We can juggle things and make things work if we need to extend, but it’s getting a lot harder. 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.”
Joe Acabá, Chief Of NASA’s Astronaut Office Comments
Joe Acabá, Chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office Photo: NASA
Joe Acabá gave the following remarks today: “We undergo rigorous training to prepare, both mentally and physically for the challenges that may arise during any given mission. This mission is a test flight, and as Butch and Suni expressed ahead of their launch, they knew this mission might not be perfect. Human spaceflight is inherently risky, and as astronauts, we accept that as part of the job.”
He continued, “Right now, the agency has taken the time to ensure we are not putting the crew at a higher risk than is necessary. And as astronauts, that’s always something worth waiting for. As Starliner’s first flight with crew, Butch and Suni gave the ground teams feedback and data on the spacecraft, both during the write-up and now docked to the International Space Station.”
“That added human element continues to be extremely helpful for our teams on the ground. Butch and Suni have also contributed to countless hours of science and research, which I know our ISS program is very thankful for.”
“As most of you know, Butch and Suni are very familiar with life aboard the space station. This is their third station mission for both of them.”
Butch Wilmore, speaking, and Suni Williams to his right when they arrived at Kennedy Space Center last spring. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of Titusville
“I do want to put this into perspective. If Butch and Suni do not come home on Starliner and they are kept aboard the station. They will have about eight months on orbit. We have done multiple successful long duration. Missions, even up to a year. Those missions have given us volumes of data about the effects of long duration spaceflight that we continue to use in space exploration.”
“As I assign crew members to a flight and before they launch, we discuss nominal and potential off nominal mission durations. They are always prepared. We are lucky to be in a time in human spaceflight where we have regular resupply missions, enabling the crews aboard the station to receive any extra supplies they may need, and where an eight month mission falls within our standard long duration mission timeframe.”
“I’ve talked to Butch and Suni a number of times throughout their stay, and they continue to be committed to the mission. They are proud to represent our nation, and they continue to show their readiness and resilience. We are proud of all of our current expedition crew aboard the International Space Station as we work through this process.”
“We are proud of the teams on the ground, and we know our CFT crew, Butch and Suni, will be ready to support the direction our agency chooses.”
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.
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:
I was not able to be present at Cape Canaveral for the actual launch of Starliner due to prior commitments and the two previous scrubs of the flight moving the schedule into the middle of another long-planned trip. Disappointing, but things happen. I was, however, able to capture a lot of the prelaunch activities:
NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance Forego Launch Opportunity on June 2nd As Well
The debut of Boeing’s Starliner with crew aboard will have to endure at least one more delay as teams work to assess the latest issue that prevented a launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early this afternoon.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will presumable remain at Kennedy Space Center and still in quarantine awaiting the next launch attempt, which could come NET June 5th at 10:52 AM EDT.
Almost Got There
At T-minus three minutes and fifty-six seconds, a hold was called, the launch countdown halted, and the launch attempt was scrubbed for the day.
The reason?
“NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) scrubbed today’s launch opportunity due to the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count.”
NASA
In short, a computer systems failure.
Specifically, the failure was in the system that, “Controls things like retracting umbilical [connections from the pad to Atlas V] and the Pyro pin that release the bolts at the base of the rocket, so that when ignition happens the rocket is free to fly away and do its job,” said United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno in a press briefing held after the scrub.
Tory Bruno at the NASA Press Briefing on June 1st, 2024. Photo: from NASA Livestream
Additionally, Bruno added, “For that system we do require all three systems to be running triple redundancy and to assure that [inside] each of those three big racks those three big computers do a health check and they monitor to see that those cards came up. When they were commanded to come up and be begin doing their job two came up normally the third one came up but it was slow to come up, and that tripped a red line that created an automatic hold.”
With that, the scrub, because the mission profile is one based on an instantaneous launch, means Atlas V must depart at a specific moment to catch up to the International Space Station in the most efficient manner. This is normal for ISS-bound crewed flights, dating back to the days of the Space Shuttle.
Teams Forego June 2nd Launch Window
Later in the evening, NASA issued this update:
“NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) are forgoing a Crew Flight Test launch attempt Sunday, June 2, to give the team additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex-41 in Florida.”
NASA
So, there is no fast turnaround, no launch tomorrow, and Starliner is still on the ground awaiting its first crewed mission.
“Everyday Astronaut” Tim Dodd was in town and broadcasting live from CCSFS on Saturday. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Starliner Is Not To Blame
It would be fashionable to blame Boeing and Starliner for this latest delay, but in reality, it’s their partner, United Launch Alliance, that has not delivered in both launch attempts. On May 8th, a valve issue on Atlas V scrubbed the mission, and today, another ULA hardware problem has kept Starliner on the ground. In both cases, Starliner was ready for flight, but unfortunately, its ride to space was not. Whether ULA is third-time lucky remains to be seen.
There are two more potential launch dates, June 5 and June 6 available for Starliner before Atlas V will need to have maintenance on its battery systems, a process said to take at least ten days. Not too long after that ISS scheduling comes back into play, with Crew 9 scheduled to to head to ISS aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 Crew Dragon in August.
Atlas V and Starliner on May 31, 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Starliner capsule May 31, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Totusville
If all goes well, at 12:25 PM EDT this afternoon, Boeing’s long-awaited Crewed Flight Test will lift of atop an Atlas V and on its way to low-Earth orbit. It will be the first time that Atlas V has carried crew, the first time at Starliner has carried crew, and the first crewed launch at Cape Canaveral in decades.
If all goes well.
Keep that in mind, as you hear mission controllers and official give details of the countdown as it proceeds.
Any rocket launch always has a long line of checkpoints, any of which can delay or even scrub the countdown. Until the rocket actually lifts off the pad, you can never be 100% certain that it is going to fly that day because everything has to work properly, or else mission controllers will wisely say, “We’re not going to space today.”
That is how it should be, and that’s how it will be today, especially with the lives of two astronauts at stake.
At the same time, the astronauts, engineers, technicians and staff at ULA, Boeing and NASA have diligently prepared for Starliner CFT, and they have tested, retested, and then tested again. They say the vehicle is ready. The astronauts say they are ready. And Space Station eagerly awaits their arrival, because Starliner was drafted at the last minute to carry a critical piece of hardware to the orbiting outpost.
Godspeed, Starliner.
Launch Time: 12:25 PM EDT.
Liftoff is scheduled for 12:25 PM EDT today, Saturday, June 1st.
The launch window is instantaneous, which means that Atlas V must lift off at its scheduled time, and that it cannot be delayed until later the same afternoon. This is normal for ISS launches because docking with the ISS requires efficiently matching the speed and position of the ISS, which moves at 7.7 km every second. Timing the launch to within a second greatly simplifies chasing down the orbiting outpost.
Starliner will be carried to orbit aboard an Atlas V N22, a crew-rated variant of the Atlas V 422. This version of Atlas V has two solid motor strap-on boosters with two liquid-fueled stages.
Trajectory: Northeast
As Starliner is planned to launch on a northeasterly trajectory, as is customary for ISS-bound launches. Space Coast residents may recall that previous SpaceX cargo resupply and Commercial Crew missions take the same path.
Launch viewers facing the Atlantic Ocean will see the rocket fly right-to-left as it ascends.
Weather: 90% Go, Winds Are A Concern
The 45th Weather Squadron’s official Launch Mission Execution Forecast gives 90% probability of acceptable atmospheric conditions at the launch sites and through Atlas V and Starliner’s ascent corridor.
One concern is wind. Mark Burger, launch weather officer at the 45th Weather Squadron said that, “There is one watch item,” he said, “And that is the local winds. It’s already turning breezy out of there with sort of a stiff onshore flow, and that’s what we’ll be monitoring for tomorrow as well.”
Burger added, “Again, [we’re] not considering any rain or thunderstorms, maybe a few clouds, bu not anything concerning for us. The winds will be a little feisty tomorrow not only in terms of the magnitude of the winds, but also the direction of the winds. [There will be] a pretty good onshore component, nearly perpendicular to the coast. That tightens or restricts us just a little bit in terms of favorability. But again, now, winds, as you know, are a highly variable factor both in time and space. So hopefully we’ll be able to to get off without a hitch.”
via 45th Weather Squadron. Forecast may be updated at any time.
Sky Cover
The National Weather Service is expecting roughly 50% cloud coverage late tomorrow morning. The launch should be well visible to most spectators, but clouds may block others.
Via National Weather Service. Forecast may be updated at any time.
Booster Recovery
None. Atlas V is a fully expendable launch system, so after Main Engine Cutoff of the first stage, it will seperate and fall into the Atlantic Ocean. Atlas V’s second stage, a dual-engine Centaur, will be purposely re-entered after Starliner separation.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
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 Spaceflight, 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.
Launch Viewing: In Person
This morning’s planned launch is from SLC-40, on the south side of the Eastern Range (KSC and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station combined.) The southern parks in Titusville on Washington Avenue and FL-528/A1A in Cape Canaveral are the best spots to watch liftoff directly.
Given the early hours of the launch window (7:30AM – 11:30AM EDT) these restaurants may not be open for launch viewing. Later in the day, all three may well be, so if you are interested, be sure to call ahead to make sure they’ll be ready to serve you.
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
Indirect Views
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.
Northern Titusville Parks
Further away, but really nice views.
You can also view the launch from the area beaches, which will have good views of the ascending rocket after it clears any ground obstructions.
Be prepared for potential changes or pushbacks in the launch schedule, and keep up by monitoring the live stream links mentioned above.
Keep up with launch news and other space events that affect the local area by subscribing to alerts when we publish a new article by entering your email at the link at the bottom of this page, or by visiting Space Talk here on the website. It’s free, and you can cancel at any time.
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