So Did NASA Make the Right Call with Starliner?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Starliner capsule in White Sands, NM. (Boeing Space)

So now that the Starliner capsule is back here on Earth, some may wonder if it was necessary to return it without a crew.

Here is what Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, had to say during a post-landing press conference:

If we’d have had a crew on board the spacecraft, we would have followed the same back away sequence from the space station, the same deorbit burn and executed the same entry. And so it would have been a safe, successful landing with the crew on board.

So that is good news for Boeing, but not likely to thrill Boeing stockholders. No matter how you spin it, only a crewed return would have been seen as a success.

It also appears the flight back was not quite as simple as portrayed by Mr. Stich’s initial statement. For instance, a Quartz article noted that during the capsule’s return another thruster failed and the guidance system blacked out for a moment.

Boeing has been pretty quite on the issue. Its latest update had a simple statement about the landing and an uncertain comment about “next steps”:

Boeing’s Starliner landed safely at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, Sept. 7 (10:01 p.m. Mountain time, on Friday, Sept. 6). After an extended stay at the International Space Station, Starliner’s reusable crew module touched down at its designated landing site, White Sands Space Harbor at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

“I want to recognize the work the Starliner teams did to ensure a successful and safe undocking, deorbit, re-entry and landing,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. “We will review the data and determine the next steps for the program.”

The Starliner crew module will be transported back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Boeing teams will analyze mission data.

Maybe when cooler heads prevail over at Boeing we will learn more. I just hope they are still in the game.

Space Stories: Polaris Dawn Mission Starts, Report Blasts NASA, and Galaxies Are Larger Than We Thought

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Here are some recent stories of interest.

—NASA: “NASA to Test Telemedicine, Gather Essential Health Data with Polaris Dawn Crew“

NASA researchers will soon benefit from a suite of experiments flying aboard a new fully-commercial human spaceflight mission, strengthening future agency science as we venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The experiments are flying as part of the Polaris Dawn mission which launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket earlier today…“Each mission, whether the crew is comprised of commercial or NASA astronauts, provides a key opportunity to expand our knowledge about how spaceflight affects human health,” said Jancy McPhee, associate chief scientist for human research at NASA. “Information gathered from Polaris Dawn will give us critical insights to help NASA plan for deeper space travel to the Moon and Mars.”

—Flying Magazine: “Report to Congress: Shortsighted, Aging NASA Faces Uncertain Future“

A report published Tuesday raises serious questions about NASA’s ability to effectively function as the nation’s preeminent space agency. The 218-page document, assembled by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) at the behest of Congress, warns that NASA is prioritizing short-term missions and commercial contracts over the people and technology that make its out-of-this-world activities possible. Per the report, the space agency’s emphasis on near-term victories and overreliance on private contractors comes at the price of a strained budget, degraded infrastructure, and exodus of talented personnel.

—Astro3D: “Galaxies are Much, Much Bigger Than We Thought“

A shroud of gas stretches up to a million light years around every galaxy and is its first interaction with the wider Universe beyond. For the first time, scientists have photographed this halo of matter and examined it pixel by pixel. If this galaxy is typical, then the study, published today in Nature Astronomy, indicates that our galaxy is already interacting with its closest neighbour, Andromeda.

Space Quote: Exciting Days Ahead for the US Space Program

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): An image of Buzz Aldrin’s bootprint on the lunar surface from the Apollo 11 mission. (NASA)

“After having no other U.S. options for over 30 years, three different human spacecraft programs are now underway. In addition to the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the Boeing Starliner, NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission, is planned to fly four astronauts around the Moon in the next couple of years. These programs have had setbacks and bumps along the way – and there will be more – but I haven’t been this excited about human spaceflight since I was an 11-year-old cheering for Apollo and dreaming about putting the first human footprints on Mars.”

–Statement by former commander of the International Space Station Michael Fossum when asked by The Conversation about NASA’s decision to return the craft uncrewed, the future of the Starliner program and its crew’s extended stay at the space station.

Starliner: So Far, So Good

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): NASA video coverage of the Starliner pulling away from the ISS earlier today. (NASA)

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule has started its journey back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Soon we will learn whether the spacecraft is operating as expected and could have returned the two astronauts safely.

The extra caution is not unexpected, and this does not spell doom for Boeing, but it is a setback. The real question will be the rate at which the Starliner’s issues can be resolved and another launch attempted.

On August 2, Boeing stated:

Boeing remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew. We continue to support NASA’s requests for additional testing, data, analysis and reviews to affirm the spacecraft’s safe undocking and landing capabilities. Our confidence is based on this abundance of valuable testing from Boeing and NASA. The testing has confirmed 27 of 28 RCS thrusters are healthy and back to full operational capability. Starliner’s propulsion system also maintains redundancy and the helium levels remain stable. The data also supports root cause assessments for the helium and thruster issues and flight rationale for Starliner and its crew’s return to Earth.

Let’s hope Boeing is correct and the company is back on the launch pad with an improved Starliner shortly.

Update: NASA reported that the uncrewed Starliner capsule safely landed at 10:01 p.m. MDT on Friday, September 6, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Europa Clipper and Starliner: Two Missions, Two Dates

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of the Europa Clipper above Europa. (NASA)

NASA has decided to move forward with the Europa Clipper mission even though there have been some questions about its ability to withstand the moon’s radiation. The launch is set for an October 10 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA is also moving forward with the return of the empty Starliner capsule currently attached to the International Space Station. This Friday, September 6, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will disconnect from the station and land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. If all goes well, NASA can continue to study the capsule and learn more about what went wrong.

Stay tuned.