Launch of Boeing’s Starliner Delayed Indefinitely Due to Vexing Technical Glitch

The second uncrewed check of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is on maintain, as mission groups with Boeing and NASA troubleshoot a problem having to do with the spacecraft’s propulsion system.

An article I wrote for Gizmodo again in July 2020 featured the headline, “Investigation of botched Starliner test exposes Boeing’s weakness as a NASA partner.” That’s how I felt again then, and this newest information is doing nothing to alter my opinion of the aerospace large.

The Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission was supposed to get off the bottom on Tuesday, however “unexpected valve position indications” on the CST-100 Starliner’s propulsion system prompted a delay, in response to a NASA statement. The countdown for launch was already underway when the issue was detected, particularly valves within the improper configuration required for launch.

This is now the second delay of the second uncrewed flight check of the capsule, not together with the prolonged delay prompted by the failed first check in December 2019, throughout which period Boeing needed to handle 80 suggestions made by the joint NASA-Boeing Independent Review crew. Starliner was purported to launch on Friday, July 29, however Russia’s misfiring Nauka module pressured a postponement (for the newest on this, take a look at my publish from yesterday).

On Tuesday, mission groups with Boeing and NASA tried to repair the difficulty by “cycling the service module propulsion system valves,” as NASA notes. Some potential causes, together with these associated to software program, have been dominated out, however the crew wants extra time to finish their analysis.

Further inspections and assessments are warranted, so the crew plans to move the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with Starliner positioned atop, to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The crew will energy down Starliner later at this time after which transfer the rocket and spacecraft to VIF. A rescheduled date and time of launch has not been decided.

“NASA and Boeing will take whatever time is necessary to ensure Starliner is ready for its important uncrewed flight test to the space station and will look for the next available opportunity after resolution of the issue,” NASA writes.

Now is the a part of my article once I’m obliged to say that is all a traditional a part of growth and testing, that it’s good to be protected, and that issues needs to be anticipated, and bla bla bla. But as a lot as I’m rooting for this challenge, it’s clearly been a shitshow. Boeing must get its act collectively, whether or not it’s designing protected business crew autos for NASA astronauts or making pilots conscious of frighteningly harmful options added to next-gen airplanes.

Starliner will most likely be a hit, and it’ll afford NASA a second possibility for delivering its astronauts to the International Space Station (SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is already up and operating). But the area company ought to critically take into account its choices when sourcing future companions.