by Boeing’s leak-prone Starliner capsule will remain at the International Space Station for four more days, NASA announced Tuesday, before returning to Earth for a pre-dawn landing at White Sands, New -Mexico, on June 26 to close out 20-extensions. day test flight – the first with astronauts on board.
The additional time will bring docked Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams more time to help out aboard the station as flight controllers continue to examine telemetry and finalize reentry plans with five known helium leaks in the capsule’s propulsion system and unexpected behavior in multi-maneuver jets.
One jet will not be used for the remainder of the flight, but the other thrusters passed suspected “hot spots” during testing on Saturday, giving managers confidence they will operate as required. to release the Starliner from orbit for re-entry and landing. .
As for the helium leaks, engineers say the spacecraft has more than 10 times more for the rest of the flight. During Saturday’s hot-fire test, leak rates were less than what telemetry showed earlier in the mission, but engineers are still evaluating data to better understand the system’s behavior.
“We have learned that our helium system is not performing as designed. Although it is manageable, it is still not working as we designed it,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing Starliner program manager. “So we have to go figure that out.”
Regarding the thrusters, “there are some things about our flight profile and / or our parameters … where our thrusters are not functioning (as expected). So we have to figure that out.” But he said Boeing plans to “completely eliminate” the two issues, which he described as “nuisances,” before the Starliner flies again.
“The good thing about it is that we can stay up on ISS a little longer and get as much data as we can so we can fully understand this as long as we can.”
Meanwhile, Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said the Starliner can safely transport Wilmore and Williams back to Earth if there is an issue that requires an immediate departure.
But as it stands, Wilmore and Williams will lift off from the space station’s home port at 10:10pm EDT on June 25 and push thrusters facing the ship to drop out of orbit early the next day. , establishing a parachute-and-airbag-assisted landing at White Sands at 4:51 a.m. EDT.
The day before Wilmore and Williams depart, ISS astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt plan to go outside the station for a spacewalk, or EVA, to recover a faulty radio transmitter and collect debris near with the station’s vents and airlock to determine if there are any micro-organisms. that they managed to make it outside and survive in the harsh environment of space.
During the initial attempt on June 13, in the first of three planned spacewalks, Dyson and Matthew Dominick, her original partner, did not get out of the airlock. Dominick reported a spacesuit “discomfort issue” and the EVA was aborted.
Rather than take the time to investigate and correct the problem with Dominick’s suit, and given the amount of air oxygen available, NASA managers decided to try the original spacewalk with Dyson and Barratt and tasks that were planned for the second and third trip together. one trip on July 2.
But the spaswalk schedule is dependent on the undocking of Starliner, which is the highest near-term priority.
Already running four years behind schedule, the Starliner was launched June 5a month later than planned due to problems with its Atlas 5 rocket, trouble with a countdown computer and a leak of initial helium in the system used to pressurize the capsule’s thrusters.
NASA and Boeing managers determined that the leak was too small to pose a safety threat and the ship was cleared for launch. Once in orbit and en route to the space station, however, four more helium leaks were developed and the Starliner’s flight computer took seven maneuvering jets offline when telemetry did not match pre-launch expectations.
Stich said Saturday’s hot-fire test showed the jets needed for post-launch maneuvers and the critical de-orbit “burn” will operate as needed to remove the ship from orbit for re-entry. Likewise, he said engineers were confident the helium leaks can be managed even if one or more worsen after being unsealed.
But the extra days tethered to the space station will give engineers more time to review data and monitor telemetry from the Starliner service module, where the thrusters and helium pressure plumbing are located. Engineers will not be able to study the actual hardware because the service module is terminated before re-entry and burned up in the atmosphere.
“We’re taking extra time since this is a crew vehicle, we want to make sure we leave no stone unturned,” Stich said. “We also want to look at the systems and possible interaction between the systems and make sure we haven’t missed something before we go back.”
“I like that the vehicle is staying a little longer,” he said. “I like the fact that we’re looking at how the vehicle performs thermally, how the space station charges the batteries. We’re getting to see those types of cycles, which we absolutely need for the next missions that. … there is a silver lining in staying a little longer (at the space station).”
Before the launch, NASA managers hoped that the Starliner test flight would pave the way for certifying the spacecraft for operational space station crew rotation missions starting early next year. But given the problems that arose earlier in the flight, certification could be delayed depending on what is needed to address the issues identified so far.
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