Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time.
Boeing's Crew Flight Test Starliner spacecraft is mated to its Atlas V rocket ahead of its first astronaut launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.Starliner is still set to fly on its historic first flight with astronauts on June 1, but that could change as the team works through"complicated" issues following a small helium leak."It's so complicated. There's so many things going on.
He said the situation caused Starliner's team to pay more attention to the manifolds; while NASA says the pre-checks were robust,"maybe in a perfect timeframe. We might have identified this earlier." But that is precisely the role of a test flight, to identify such issues, he noted. The other 27 thrusters in the RCS are not leaking at all, he emphasized, and analysis determined Starliner could handle up to four more thruster leaks — or a leak of up to 100 times higher in this one zone. Additionally, engineers tested the system through several pressure changes and the leak was"relatively stable" through those changes, he said.
"And that took a little time for our team to go work through," he continued, saying it involved NASA teams in guidance and navigation, structures and propulsion alongside Aerojet Rocketdyne and Boeing teams."So we have that restored that redundancy for the backup capability in a very remote set of failures for the deorbit burn.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NASA retargets for June 1 launch of Boeing's StarlinerNASA has carved out more time to talk through problems with its attempt to send up astronauts on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, which is now targeting June 1 if mission managers give the go for launch.
Read more »
1st astronaut launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule now targeted for June 1Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, 'Out There,' was published on Nov. 13, 2018.
Read more »
Boeing Starliner launch slips to at least June 1 for extended helium leak analysisNASA managers have ordered additional reviews of a small helium leak in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft to make sure it can be safely launched as is.
Read more »
NASA, Boeing clear two technical hurdles for Starliner's debut crew flightNASA, Boeing clear two technical hurdles for Starliner's debut crew flight
Read more »
Boeing, NASA say Starliner astronaut launch will move forward despite spacecraft helium leakBoeing and NASA are moving forward with a June 1 launch attempt of the first crewed Starliner mission despite a “stable” leak in its propulsion…
Read more »
Boeing, NASA say Starliner astronaut launch will move forward despite spacecraft helium leakBoeing and NASA are moving forward with a June 1 launch attempt of the first crewed Starliner mission despite a 'stable' leak in its propulsion system.
Read more »