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#1080
by
arachnitect
on 05 Sep, 2015 03:37
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#1081
by
Rocket Science
on 05 Sep, 2015 07:05
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#1082
by
Jim
on 05 Sep, 2015 10:21
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Does anyone know how they're sealing the seam between the upper and lower halves of the CM clam shell? Seems to be a failure mode looking for a time to happen.
How is that any different than joining these to modules or attaching the bulkhead? Or joining the Spacelab support module to the experiment module and after installing the experiment racks, attaching the endcone?
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#1083
by
edkyle99
on 05 Sep, 2015 15:33
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Great. At least we know where the extra hundreds of millions of funding compared to Dragon 2 went. On OPF repainting and a twitter-friendly name for an already named spacecraft. I envision Friday's event to be painful, with a tearful Bolden trying to keep to a script, grinning lawmakers, and fat cat Boeing execs checking their stock price, before Bolden rushes off the stage to write that next check to Russia again.
I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
- Ed Kyle
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#1084
by
Prober
on 05 Sep, 2015 15:59
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Starliner could turn into a BEO capsule. Its getting the funds to finish building, while Orion hurts. Couple of years from now someone is going to get the bright idea to upgrade the Starliner for another mission. It's possible. 
Ah no. Not only would its heat shield fail, but CST-100 is not structurally capable of flights BEO. It was stressed for re-entry from LEO. Re-entry from BEO would push the structure beyond its design limits. If Boeing wants a BEO spacecraft they will have to start from scratch.
You mean they can't just install a new super pica heat shield and go for it
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#1085
by
Coastal Ron
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:01
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I'm reminded of the saying by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
"
Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
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#1086
by
RonM
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:16
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I'm reminded of the saying by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
If Boeing can reuse Starliners, it will be affordable. The clam shell design will help with processing time and cost.
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#1087
by
edkyle99
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:21
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I'm reminded of the saying by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
We don't really know how much CST-100 will cost once operational, but that said, some things are worth the cost.
NASA Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier said, “I consider Boeing’s superior proposal, with regard to both its technical and management approach and its past performance, to be worth the additional price in comparison to the SNC proposal.” He also said that CST-100 was “the strongest of all three proposals in both mission suitability and past performance." He said "Boeing’s system offers the most useful inherent capabilities for operational flexibility in trading cargo and crew for individual missions. It is also based on a spacecraft design that is fairly mature in design.”
- Ed Kyle
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#1088
by
clongton
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:25
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
- Ed Kyle
Well of course. It will be better than Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz, Mercury and Gemini, and will be safer than Shuttle. All those were LEO-only spacecraft. Boeing's new spacecraft will be better than all of them for a variety of reasons. Apollo and Dragon OTOH were both designed as BOE spacecraft, not LEO-limited spacecraft.
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#1089
by
yoram
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:35
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
- Ed Kyle
Well of course. It will be better than Vostok, Voskhod, Soyuz, Mercury and Gemini, and will be safer than Shuttle. All those were LEO-only spacecraft. Boeing's new spacecraft will be better than all of them for a variety of reasons. Apollo and Dragon OTOH were both designed as BOE spacecraft, not LEO-limited spacecraft.
To be pedantic Soyuz was designed as a beyond LEO space craft too. It was never used manned this way, but they did multiple unmanned flights around the moon in the 7K-L1/Zond variant.
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#1090
by
Endeavour_01
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:35
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I'm reminded of the saying by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
Its more affordable than the Soyuz just based on the seat price. Also lets not forget that because it is land landing it is much easier to reuse (up to 10 times according to Boeing). From this point until the time where Dragon can land propulsively the Starliner will be the most reusable spacecraft.
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#1091
by
Endeavour_01
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:45
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All those were LEO-only spacecraft. Boeing's new spacecraft will be better than all of them for a variety of reasons. Apollo and Dragon OTOH were both designed as BOE spacecraft, not LEO-limited spacecraft.
I agree to a point that Dragon was designed as a BEO vehicle (the heat shield at least). However, there is more to a BEO spacecraft than a heat shield. Life support, rad tolerant parts, redundancies ect. are needed. At this point from a manned spacecraft perspective Dragon is just as LEO bound as the Starliner.
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#1092
by
Ike17055
on 05 Sep, 2015 16:59
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Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
- Ed Kyle
Ed: what do you recommend as the best source available for Starliner design info? There seems to have been a dearth of publicly available information in this craft, even for those of us with great interest in it and actively seeking it out.
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#1093
by
Prober
on 05 Sep, 2015 17:56
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Anyone take the tour and have video?
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#1094
by
a_langwich
on 05 Sep, 2015 18:21
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I'm reminded of the saying by Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
Clearly Antoine de Saint-Exupery was into milling and machining, not in additive manufacturing.
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#1095
by
Apollo-phill
on 05 Sep, 2015 19:01
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Can someone explain what the "top overhang structure is on Boeing Starliner Access Tower (boxed in white on attached image) please ?
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#1096
by
TrevorMonty
on 05 Sep, 2015 19:13
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I'm convinced that, five years from now, we will all see clearly that Boeing has developed the best manned LEO spacecraft that has yet flown. Spend some time really studying the details of its design and you'll see what I mean.
Yes, but will it be affordable? Because if no one can afford to use it, then all those features that make it "the best" are a waste.
I not sure how you define BEST. For NASA it just needs to transport crew to and from ISS safely to be a success.
I do think land landing does add safety, recovering capsules from sea adds extra expense, time and risks to both crew and recovery crew. Do enough water landings in an unpredictable sea and something is sure to go wrong eventually.
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#1097
by
Jim
on 05 Sep, 2015 19:27
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Can someone explain what the "top overhang structure is on Boeing Starliner Access Tower (boxed in white on attached image) please ?
Likely for access to and cover for the arm
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#1098
by
rcoppola
on 05 Sep, 2015 19:54
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Yes, good call. The overall top structure will also house the elevator mechanics.
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#1099
by
docmordrid
on 05 Sep, 2015 22:28
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Does anyone know how they're sealing the seam between the upper and lower halves of the CM clam shell? Seems to be a failure mode looking for a time to happen.
How is that any different than joining these to modules or attaching the bulkhead? Or joining the Spacelab support module to the experiment module and after installing the experiment racks, attaching the endcone?
They didn't/don't have to survive re-entry, or potentially keep water out after doing so - especially if the chutes take you for a ride in rough seas. Potential leak prevention is why mariners try to minimize the number and size of hull penetrations. This appears larger than the rest of Starliner's other penetrations combined, and then some. Excrement happens.
