Starliner Archives - Page 3 of 3

March 22, 2024

Boeing Starliner Launch Now NET May 1st

Starliner CFT-2 launching May 19, 2022.
Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT

Boeing’s Crewed Flight Test of Starliner has pushed a little further to the right again and is now scheduled to launch no earlier than May 1st. That shift is not due to any concerns with the vehicle or its readiness, but instead, ISS scheduling, specifically docking port availability.

Steve Stich, NASA’s Manager of Commercial Crew said in a press conference today that “The launch date right now is no earlier than May 1, and that’s driven by the ISS traffic.” He added, “As you know, it’s been a busy year on ISS. We have a cargo vehicle en route right now, and Dana will talk a little bit more about that mission and then how, at the end of the undocked time frame, we have to set up for a crewed flight test.”

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore emerge from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, as part of an integrated crew exercise simulation for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT). Photo credit: NASA/Isaac Watson

“I had a chance to go over to one of the recent simulations and watch Butch and Suni and talk to them a bit. They’re in great spirits. They are ready and anxious to fly both the Starliner vehicle and also anxious to get on board ISS once they get there. They’ll be there for just under two weeks and the main focus will be putting Starliner through its paces,” Stich said.

CFT Will Be A Busy Flight Test

Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Vice President and Program Manager of the Starliner Program outlined what promises to be a busy schedule for Williams and Willmore during the flight. “The CFT flight is really the introduction of crew into our vehicle system. So a lot of our flight test objectives are about how that interface is going to work.”

Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Vice President and Program Manager of the Starliner Program in today’s press conference.
Photo: NASA Livestream

As to flight test objectives, Nappi said, “We’ve got just under 90 of them. And it’s all, does the vehicle perform with the human in the loop, as expected?”

“We flew OFT-2,” Nappi added, “And that was the uncrewed mission for the Starliner vehicle. It was very successful. Now we introduce the human. And so what are we going to do to establish that interface?”

“From prelaunch through ascent, we’re going to be looking at how the astronauts fit into the seats, how they interface with the equipment in the vehicle. when we go through approach and rendezvous.” After that, Nappi said, “We’ll confirm the thruster performance and manual scenarios are working as expected. We’ll check the communications. We’ll check the manual and auto navigation systems and the operation of the life support system with crew now in the vehicle.”

After arriving at ISS, Nappi said “once we’re on dock, we’ll look at hatch operations and how that works with the crew. And, once we get past the first few days, we’ll go into a quiescent mode and make sure that performs Rnominally. And then after that, it’s about crew, excuse me, about cargo transfer.”

Preparing for re-entry and landing will also be a major set of test objectives: “We’ll undock,” Nappi said. “We’ll confirm our manual piloting system. We’ll be able to go into the backup mode and let Butch and Suni use the hand controllers to make sure the vehicle reacts as expected.”

Starliner after landing a test flight at White Sands, NM
Photo: NASA

Finally, Nappi said, “How we separate from the crew module with the service module and how we re enter and use the parachute systems and test the landing systems out. So a lot of nominal operations, but this time the crew is involved and so we want to check that interface out.”

“CFT is a test flight, so we expect that there may be some lessons learned,” Nappi concluded.

Williams and Willmore’s flight is expected to last around eight days.

NASA’s Steve Stich Gives Quick Starliner Update

Rendering of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner docked at ISS
Graphic: Boeing Corporation

During the NASA Administrator Briefing from the Kennedy Space Center mainly centered around Crew-8 readiness today, Steve Stich, the Manager of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program gave some insight about the status of the planned first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. That launch is currently planned for late April of this year.

Steve Stich, Manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at the NASA Administrator Briefing held at the NASA Press Site at Kennedy Space Center on February 28, 2024
Photo: NASA livestream

On the Starliner capsule’s readiness, Stich said “Over at Boeing the Starliner spacecraft is pretty much closed out. We’ve loaded the fluid for the cooling system. The next big event, really, is to load propellant on the crew module and propellant in the service module. And that’ll happen in mid-March.”

“We’re going to work hand in hand with Joel [Montalbano, NASA’s Manager of the International Space Station Program] on the right decision points to go fuel Starliner. As Joel said, it’s a busy time, so we may adjust the date. Right now, we’re targeting the Crew Flight test in late April.”

Stich also mentioned that the launch date for Starliner may be affected by the availability of a docking port, so the late April date appears that it may still be somewhat fluid. The good news for Boeing is that the spacecraft appears to be in good condition to fly, pending additional flight readiness reviews.

ULA Stacking Atlas-V for Starliner at SLC-41

On a post on the X platform yesterday, NASA Commercial Crew said “A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was moved into the company’s Vertical Integration Facility to start stacking operations ahead of the first crewed Starliner launch to [the International] Space Station.”

Atlas V being prepared in the Vertical Integration Facility at SLC-41 on February 27, 2024.
Photo: NASA

If The Crew Flight Test Is Successful?

Stich said that there are effectively two crews training for Starliner flights: “We really have two crews, primarily in training,” he said. “Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, for CFT. Mike Finke is the backup astronaut for that flight.”

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Mike Fincke, right, pose for photographs while visiting NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, May 18, 2022, in advance of the agency’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Photo: NASA

Stich did not identify an additional astronaut that would be training for Starliner One, the first operational mission of the CST-100 Starliner system. He did, however, outline post-CFT plans for the Starliner system. “Our plan is to really watch the progress of how Starliner One is progressing with the hardware build and the certification products,” he said.

“Just like we did for [SpaceX Crew Dragon] Demo-2, to get to our [Starliner] Crew One flight,” Stich added, “We have a certification process that we go through after that test flight to get to the first Starliner mission. We’ll do that toward the end of this year.”

Assuming all goes well for the Starliner CFT mission, Stich said that, “The Starliner One mission is scheduled for February of 2025.”

NASA and Boeing Enter Next Steps of Flight Prep for Starliner

NASA and Boeing are working to perform final analysis of recent test data from fixes identified during the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle certification process, and the agency and company are on track to complete overall system certification ahead of Starliner’s first crewed flight planned for no earlier than April 2024.

The Crew Flight Test will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to ISS for a 7-14 day stay, after which Starliner will detach from the orbiting laboratory in order to return to Earth in New Mexico at the White Sands Space Harbor, near the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range.

Starliner Crew Suni Williams and Butch Williams at KSC in 2022.
photo: NASA

Updates To Parachutes and Risky Tape Used Inside Starliner

Recent modifications to Starliner’s parachute system were validated in a drop-test conducted at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground on January 9, 2024.

*A NASA C-130 cargo aircraft releases a dart-shaped test vehicle above the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground on Jan. 9 to begin the testing sequence for a Boeing Starliner parachute system.*
Photo *Credit: U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground*

Boeing has also addressed concerns about the flammability of P-213 glass cloth tape that is wrapped around wiring harnesses throughout the vehicle inside the Starliner capsule and removed about 4,300 feet of the material in order to reduce a fire hazard inside the capsule.

P-213 tape. Under certain conditions, this material may have presented a fire hazard inside Starliner.

NASA also stated that it has worked to “clarify the properties and safe usage guidance relative to P213 tape in the NASA Materials Usage Agreements database to prevent a similar misapplication from occurring across industry in the future.

Other Tests Underway

According to NASA, “major integrated flight operations exercises are underway. Mission support teams recently completed a two-day undock to landing mission dress rehearsal with recovery personnel on the ground at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Teams simulated Crew Flight Test procedures and spacecraft sequences starting with pre-undock powerup and continuing through undock, entry, landing, and crew recovery. The exercise provided an additional training opportunity for NASA and Boeing to practice Starliner’s return to Earth in a high-fidelity environment before the flight.”

Remaining Work To Complete Before Starliner Launch

Boeing is planning to complete Starliner’s assembly by the end of January, or about one week away. Following the completion of that work, United Launch Alliance and Boeing can work to integrate the completed vehicle to its ride in space, an Atlas V N22.

NASA released a list of activities remaining to be completed successfully prior to the Crewed Flight Test of Starliner on January 24, 2024:

work to complete overall Crew Flight Test certification (6-8 weeks)

put the finishing touches on the Starliner spacecraft, which is already joined to its service module;

run simulations of operational conditions to rehearse every phase of the mission with the crew, flight controllers, and ground operations teams;

fuel the spacecraft with propellants for its onboard thrusters for in-space maneuvering;

stack the ULA Atlas V rocket and Starliner spacecraft before rolling them to the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida;

and work through detailed systems reviews, culminating with a flight readiness review in the days before launch to verify the system and teams are ready.

NASA: NASA, Boeing Move into Next Phases of Flight Test Prep