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#80
by
catdlr
on 15 Aug, 2016 22:16
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Starliner Crew Access Arm Installed at SLC-41
NASAKennedy
Published on Aug 15, 2016
The Crew Access Arm astronauts will walk across to get to Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on launch day was lifted and bolted into place Monday, Aug. 15, 2016, at SLC-41. United Launch Alliance is outfitting the Atlas V launch complex for crews that will fly into space on Starliner/Atlas V missions including those for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
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#81
by
yg1968
on 15 Aug, 2016 23:47
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#82
by
yg1968
on 18 Aug, 2016 02:51
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Opening Remarks: Boeing CST-100 Crew Access Arm Install:
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#83
by
yg1968
on 18 Aug, 2016 02:53
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Timelapse Of Boeing CST-100 Crew Access Arm Lift And Installation:
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#84
by
Targeteer
on 18 Aug, 2016 20:37
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#85
by
catdlr
on 18 Aug, 2016 22:22
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Crew Flight Test Engine Hot Fired
NASAKennedy
Published on Aug 18, 2016
Commercial crew astronauts Eric Boe and Suni Williams were joined by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore to watch Aerojet Rocketdyne hot-fire test the company’s RL10 engine in West Palm Beach, Florida that will be used for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test in February 2018. The RL10 engine is a critical element on the United Launch Alliance Centuar upper stage for the Atlas V rocket, which will lift Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner for a mission to the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
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#86
by
Lars-J
on 19 Aug, 2016 06:18
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#87
by
russianhalo117
on 19 Aug, 2016 17:44
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#88
by
okan170
on 19 Aug, 2016 18:24
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Can't wait until we start seeing photos with both engines side-by-side getting ready for flight. Not that much longer to wait!
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#89
by
arachnitect
on 21 Aug, 2016 12:37
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http://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/aerojet-rocketdyne/rl10-test-paves-way-future-starliner-flights/Three NASA astronauts assigned to the Commercial Crew program—Eric Boe, Sunita Williams, and Barry “Butch” Wilmore—watched frost and icicles build up on the engine bell and components as cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flowed through the system during the six-minute firing. The test included a shutdown and restart in vacuum, which will occur during an actual mission. According to Boe, “Today’s test was just amazing and from what it looked like, it looked flawless.”
two upper stage burns for an ISS mission?
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#90
by
Steven Pietrobon
on 22 Aug, 2016 06:39
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two upper stage burns for an ISS mission?
The second burn is probably for deorbiting the second stage.
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#91
by
brickmack
on 22 Aug, 2016 22:04
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two upper stage burns for an ISS mission?
The second burn is probably for deorbiting the second stage.
Looking at the Atlas V payload planners guide, I see theres a sizeable performance increase for low circular orbit missions by launching first into an eliptical orbit and then circularizing, rather than going directly into that orbit. That would be two burns, plus a third to deorbit. Now, the tables there aren't complete (no figures are given for DEC configurations, and the minimum altitude listed for Parking Orbit Ascent to Circular Orbit is only 500 km), but this does seem to be at least a reasonable possibility. Especially if they're really tight on performance margin, which seems to be the case based on recent news
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#92
by
rcoppola
on 22 Aug, 2016 22:17
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I don't understand the drama of this test fire? Haven't we been flying these engines for 50 years? Or is there some major engine development milestone I missed along the way?
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#93
by
russianhalo117
on 22 Aug, 2016 23:06
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I don't understand the drama of this test fire? Haven't we been flying these engines for 50 years? Or is there some major engine development milestone I missed along the way?
There is no change. To sum it up for you the drama is only hype on the test firing of the first human rated RL10A-4 flight article ahead of integration on the first human rated Atlas 5 DEC flight article. And that is all this is about.
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#94
by
guckyfan
on 23 Aug, 2016 10:20
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Looking at the Atlas V payload planners guide, I see theres a sizeable performance increase for low circular orbit missions by launching first into an eliptical orbit and then circularizing, rather than going directly into that orbit.
But would not the service module do the circularization and approach to the ISS?
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#95
by
AnalogMan
on 24 Aug, 2016 22:37
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Starliner Tested for Ground-Landing Condition
24 August 2016, Steven SiceloffBoeing engineers recently evaluated the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft’s ability to withstand the shocks and other challenges of landing on the ground with a series of drop tests at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. Hoisted using a gantry at Langley that’s tested everything from private planes to the lunar lander of Apollo, a Starliner mockup with a full-size airbag system in place was released from about 30 feet to see how it behaved when contacting the Earth. The airbags have been designed to absorb much of the impact. A nominal Starliner mission, such as those planned to take NASA astronauts to the International Space Station during Commercial Crew Program flights, is to end with the spacecraft touching down on land in the American southwest where ground support teams can more easily reach the spacecraft and crew than if they splashed down in water.
The Starliner was already tested in water-landing scenarios in the same gantry. All the results will be used by Boeing to confirm the designs of the landing systems and by NASA to certify the systems for use during upcoming flight tests without and then with a crew aboard. Rad many more details about the Starliner testing at
http://go.nasa.gov/2bFMZZkhttps://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2016/08/24/starliner-tested-for-ground-landing-conditions/
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#96
by
russianhalo117
on 24 Aug, 2016 22:59
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Looking at the Atlas V payload planners guide, I see theres a sizeable performance increase for low circular orbit missions by launching first into an eliptical orbit and then circularizing, rather than going directly into that orbit.
But would not the service module do the circularization and approach to the ISS?
no. the orbit insertion would be performed by Centaur in the same manner as the Cygnus flights to ISS
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#97
by
Patchouli
on 28 Aug, 2016 23:12
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I figure the Centaur would be left on a sub orbital trajectory that takes it to a reentry over the Indian ocean.
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#98
by
douglas100
on 30 Aug, 2016 08:16
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Why waste service module prop to do what the Centaur can do?
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#99
by
russianhalo117
on 30 Aug, 2016 17:26
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I figure the Centaur would be left on a sub orbital trajectory that takes it to a reentry over the Indian ocean.
Starliner would have insufficent Delta-V to perform its whole mission. Mission simulations are counting on Centaur performing the orbit insertion to an inital circular parking orbit like that of Shuttle and Cygnus missions.
(re: picture of astronauts inspecting an RL-10)
(re: picture of astronauts inspecting an RL-10)