NASA and Boeing set June 1 launch date for Starliner
Posted: Mon, May 27, 2024, 9:21 AM ET (1321 GMT)
NASA and Boeing are targeting a June 1 launch of the first crewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after resolving a helium leak in the spacecraft. At a briefing Friday, officials said they had concluded a helium leak in one thruster in the spacecraft, which caused a series of launch postponements, was not a safety risk and could be managed without repairing the faulty component, a process that would have taken months. During that review, engineers discovered a "design vulnerability" in Starliner's propulsion system that could have prevented the spacecraft from performing a deborit burn in the event of a rare series of failures. A new backup deorbit burn approach has been developed as a workaround for this launch while Boeing investigates long-term hardware or software changes for future missions.
NASA and Boeing are targeting a June 1 launch of the first crewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft after resolving a helium leak in the spacecraft. At a briefing Friday, officials said they had concluded a helium leak in one thruster in the spacecraft, which caused a series of launch postponements, was not a safety risk and could be managed without repairing the faulty component, a process that would have taken months. During that review, engineers discovered a "design vulnerability" in Starliner's propulsion system that could have prevented the spacecraft from performing a deborit burn in the event of a rare series of failures. A new backup deorbit burn approach has been developed as a workaround for this launch while Boeing investigates long-term hardware or software changes for future missions.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, December 8
SpaceX and Palantir now have bigger valuations than top aerospace-defense stocks as the military eyes transformation
Fortune — 6:36 am ET (1136 GMT) Why Are We So Obsessed With the Moon?
New York Times — 6:35 am ET (1135 GMT) Proba-3 mission would significantly advance understanding of Sun's Corona: Ex-ISRO scientist
PTI — 6:33 am ET (1133 GMT) The end of the ISS will usher in a more commercialized future in space
The Verge — 6:30 am ET (1130 GMT) Italy Begins Development of Nuclear Reactor for Lunar Settlements
European Spaceflight — 6:29 am ET (1129 GMT) |
