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#860
by
Targeteer
on 24 Jul, 2024 16:54
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Can someone please ask about the failed CO2 sensor in Starliner?
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#861
by
catdlr
on 24 Jul, 2024 21:36
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UPDATE: NASA, Boeing to Stream Flight Test Mission Briefing on NASA+NASA and Boeing will host a news conference with mission leadership at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, to provide the latest status of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test aboard the International Space Station. NASA previously planned an audio-only media teleconference to host the discussion.
The agency will provide live coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Participants include:
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
United States-based media seeking to attend in person must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 9:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, at 281-483-5111 or [email protected]. U.S. and international media interested in participating by phone must contact NASA Johnson or NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at [email protected] by 10:30 a.m. the day of the event. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Engineering teams with NASA and Boeing recently completed ground hot fire testing of a Starliner reaction control system thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The test series involved firing the engine through similar in-flight conditions the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station, as well as various stress-case firings for what is expected during Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that will position the spacecraft for a landing in the southwestern United States. Teams are analyzing the data from these tests, and leadership plans to discuss initial findings during the briefing.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6, after lifting off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5. Since their arrival, the duo has been integrated with the Expedition 71 crew, performing scientific research and maintenance activities as needed.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission is an end-to-end test of the Starliner system. Following a successful return to Earth, NASA will begin the process of certifying Starliner for rotational missions to the International Space Station. Through partnership with American private industry, NASA is opening access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities.
For NASA’s blog and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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#862
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 24 Jul, 2024 21:47
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Stream for tomorrow’s update:
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#863
by
Targeteer
on 24 Jul, 2024 23:11
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UPDATE: NASA, Boeing to Stream Flight Test Mission Briefing on NASA+
NASA and Boeing will host a news conference with mission leadership at 11:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, to provide the latest status of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test aboard the International Space Station. NASA previously planned an audio-only media teleconference to host the discussion.
The agency will provide live coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Participants include:
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
United States-based media seeking to attend in person must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 9:30 a.m. EDT Thursday, July 25, at 281-483-5111 or [email protected]. U.S. and international media interested in participating by phone must contact NASA Johnson or NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at [email protected] by 10:30 a.m. the day of the event. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Engineering teams with NASA and Boeing recently completed ground hot fire testing of a Starliner reaction control system thruster at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The test series involved firing the engine through similar in-flight conditions the spacecraft experienced during its approach to the space station, as well as various stress-case firings for what is expected during Starliner’s undocking and the deorbit burn that will position the spacecraft for a landing in the southwestern United States. Teams are analyzing the data from these tests, and leadership plans to discuss initial findings during the briefing.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6, after lifting off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on June 5. Since their arrival, the duo has been integrated with the Expedition 71 crew, performing scientific research and maintenance activities as needed.
As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission is an end-to-end test of the Starliner system. Following a successful return to Earth, NASA will begin the process of certifying Starliner for rotational missions to the International Space Station. Through partnership with American private industry, NASA is opening access to low Earth orbit and the space station to more people, science, and commercial opportunities.
For NASA’s blog and more information about the mission, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Wow, who knew one complaint could lead to a major change
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#864
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 25 Jul, 2024 11:56
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https://twitter.com/carbon_flight/status/1816432633930252657Good morning from the Blue Flight Control Room! A subset of our team is here today, working with #Starliner, Butch, and @Astro_Suni. We’re updating some software files we’ll need for our upcoming departure (coming soon to a desert near you, if you live in the American Southwest!)
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#865
by
gaballard
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:16
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https://twitter.com/carbon_flight/status/1816432633930252657
Good morning from the Blue Flight Control Room! A subset of our team is here today, working with #Starliner, Butch, and @Astro_Suni. We’re updating some software files we’ll need for our upcoming departure (coming soon to a desert near you, if you live in the American Southwest!)
“Updating software files” = “patching more bugs we found”?
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#866
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:33
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Press conference has started
Edit to add:
No big announcement today, no return date yet
Thruster tests on the ground have in some cases exhibited the same type of behaviours seen on orbit. Thrusters currently being torn down and analysis to do.
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#867
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:44
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NTO may be causing the seal degradation that’s leading to loss of helium.
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#868
by
Jim
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:45
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“Updating software files” = “patching more bugs we found”?
no, as explained before just updated data like landing opportunities.
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#869
by
eeergo
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:50
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Thruster testing:
- Test campaign in White Sands tested an RCS thruster slated for a future flight.
- Aimed to take thruster through profile seen during flight, replicating both:
* the realistic uphill phase (launch + docking as they happened) as well as
* a "hot docking" extra run to elevate temperatures and reduce combustion efficiency in the thruster
- Other 5 extra "downhill" profiles, replicating what it would see during S/C return, including deorbit burn.
- More aggressive and more firings than a S/C would possibly see during a mission.
- Same kind of thrust degradation as seen in orbit was observed.
- Thruster being dissassembled now in the lab. Fuel and oxidizer valves are the focus. On the oxidizer side, there is a slight bulge on the teflon seal which can restrict the flow, and it matches the signature seen in flight.
- Team also looking at how well the seal can survive the rest of the flight. So far demonstrated five downhill phases, so it looks encouraging.
- Manual maneuvering identified as putting extra stress on the thrusters, so waving that off for this mission if possible.
Helium leaks and SM:
- No helium leaks while docked, all manifolds closed and isolated while at Station.
- Lots of testing in SM-2, which was to have launched with OFT-2 but has been sitting in White Sands for 3 years after the pre-launch incident. Dissassembled flanges have shown severe degradation to the flanges because of the 3-year exposure to NTO vapors.
- Helium leakage was cleared by MMT on July 11th.
- Flange degradation and oxidizer permeation is under active analysis. As part of this, a docked hot fire test of 27 of the thrusters (not the aft one with low thrust, B1-A3) with a number of pulses to verify the system performs as the last time it was checked, now 3 months into its exposure to propellants.
- Also pressurizing manifold by manifold in preparation for the hot fire, so that will also check the helium leak situation, and whether it's stable.
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#870
by
eeergo
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:54
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CFT mission up to now:
- Powering on/off of Starliner for emergency readiness.
- Data and video transfers, rechargings.
- Practice for manual flying on entry, backup capability on tablet.
- Filled sublimator tanks for entry.
- Docked hot fires will probably be part of every Starliner mission in the future.
- 90 days docked time approved (early September timeframe).
Undocking:
- Next week there will be a meeting after which it may be decided. Will employ the helium leak and hot fire tests information gathered on orbit together with what the tests in White Sands on SM-2 mean.
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#871
by
FutureSpaceTourist
on 25 Jul, 2024 15:56
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https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1816501562388390335It's clear NASA does not want to deviate from its base plan of using Starliner to come home, and this remains most likely. But it is not certain. SpaceX and NASA have been quietly studying launching Crew-9 two astronauts. Suits are available for Butch and Suni.
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#872
by
catdlr
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:00
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It's clear NASA does not want to deviate from its base plan of using Starliner to come home, and this remains most likely. But it is not certain. SpaceX and NASA have been quietly studying launching Crew-9 two astronauts. Suits are available for Butch and Suni.
If that plan came to be, then Butch and Suni would need to stay and extra six months until the Crew-9 rotation ends and returns.
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#873
by
eeergo
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:01
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- After the last press conference, 33 actions were open to be complete.
- No root cause had been identified even if the thrusters were cleared to perform a contingency reentry if necessary.
- Taking advantage of the docked time to thoroughly understand the system.
- Teflon where the NTO enters the thruster that was eroded, and the material ended up in the downstream filter, possibly causing loss of thrust.
- NTO gets to a port in the injector where there's a poppet that allows it to go through. There's another teflon piece at the end of the poppet. The poppet seal bulged out a little bit because of the elevated temperatures, which ALSO may restrict flow and consequently thrust.
- Combined, these effects are likely the root cause for the lowered thrust observed in orbit. Aiming to definitely prove this through hardware inspection that's ongoing now.
- This will lead to corrective actions if confirmed.
- Helium manifold leak checks are done to verify stability of the leaks over long periods of time, and lack of additional NTO degradation in the manifolds.
- This information could only be gathered through the in-flight test achieved through the lengthened docked phase.
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#874
by
DanClemmensen
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:08
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It's clear NASA does not want to deviate from its base plan of using Starliner to come home, and this remains most likely. But it is not certain. SpaceX and NASA have been quietly studying launching Crew-9 two astronauts. Suits are available for Butch and Suni.
If that plan came to be, then Butch and Suni would need to stay and extra six months until the Crew-9 rotation ends and returns.
Actually, it means that two of the six astronauts (Butch, Suni, and the four from Crew-8) would stay an extra six months. Butch and Suni are the most likely.
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#875
by
eeergo
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:17
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Hot fire will happen Saturday or Sunday. Crew will follow along in Starliner, but most firings will be ground-commanded.
High-temperature conditions were not tested on the ground because they needed more realistic flight conditions and full-system integration to be meaningful, but they did check them by analysis (obviously difficult to account for the observed degradation in that case). Integrated effect of high-temperature, Sun-illuminated, NTO-exposed, high-duty-cycle commands in the thrusters integrated in the "pizza-box-like" doghouses was something that was not caught during qualification testing, but would be difficult to simulate outside of flight conditions.
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#876
by
OTV Booster
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:18
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I really don't want to get into egregious and uninformed Boeing bashing, so help me out here.
Were the thrusters not originally tested to the standard of 'test it like you fly it'?
Edit: added word.
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#877
by
eeergo
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:25
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I really don't want to get into egregious and uninformed Boeing bashing, so help me out here.
Were the thrusters not tested to the standard of 'test it like you fly it'?
The T in CFT stands for "test".
You cannot test everything on the ground, or analyze any possible combination of factors to arbitrary resolution. Otherwise, test flights would be superfluous.
To be fair, this sounds like an unexpected (but maneageable) situation that could conceivably have been considered during design, and tested analytically in a more thorough manner pre-flight. Yet it's also conceivable there were other more pressing issues at hand that weren't just "unexpected while manageable", but rather would constitute a more severe problem to the mission if they happened in flight.
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#878
by
SoftwareDude
on 25 Jul, 2024 16:59
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There were other problems that no one asked about, and NASA and Boeing didn't mention. The journalists allow the agency to set the narrative by not bringing them up.
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#879
by
AS-503
on 25 Jul, 2024 17:13
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I really don't want to get into egregious and uninformed Boeing bashing, so help me out here.
Were the thrusters not tested to the standard of 'test it like you fly it'?
The T in CFT stands for "test".
You cannot test everything on the ground, or analyze any possible combination of factors to arbitrary resolution. Otherwise, test flights would be superfluous.
To be fair, this sounds like an unexpected (but maneageable) situation that could conceivably have been considered during design, and tested analytically in a more thorough manner pre-flight. Yet it's also conceivable there were other more pressing issues at hand that weren't just "unexpected while manageable", but rather would constitute a more severe problem to the mission if they happened in flight.
The crewed *test* flight should be a shakedown cruise to bolster already verified end to end performance, procedures, mission timelines, etc.
Im with OTV on this, the types of tests conducted at White Sands are what the qualification testing should have encompassed.
Arm waving that this is a "test" flight to justify a failed RCS system is not accurate.
