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Boeing’s Starliner capsule was supposed to fly to the ISS on August 4, but the mission failed. New details are now revealing the real reason for what happened.
New details have emerged around the failed launch of Boeingof the Starliner space capsule, revealing that the malfunction was actually more serious than initially thought. On paper, Starliner should be fantastic equipment for NASA. The capsule is designed to accommodate up to seven passengers, has room for significant cargo, and will (eventually) take astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station.
Unfortunately for Boeing, Starliner encountered a few bumps in the road during testing, including another failed launch just days ago. After missing the late July window thanks to a drama aboard the ISS, Boeing was scheduled to launch Starliner (unmanned) to the space station on August 4. Everything was ready to go, but at the last second Boeing and NASA canceled it.
Shortly after the launch was canceled, NASA reported that the valves in the propulsion system were delivering incorrect readings. It was expected to be just a computer glitch, but upon further investigation it appears there was an issue with the actual hardware. On August 9, Boeing confirmed that it had “Restored functionality to several of the 13 CST-100 Starliner propulsion system valves that did not open as expected during pre-launch system checks last week. ” This is very different from a problem with the Starliner computers. Had the launch been attempted with faulty valves, it could have resulted in serious damage to the Starliner spacecraft.
NASA still wants to use Starliner in the future
While such situations are far from ideal, they are also quite common. About a week ago, Chinese space exploration company i-Space encountered its second failed launch this year. Succeeding in a flawless mission from Earth to space is no easy task, as there are endless possibilities for something to go wrong along the way. Boeing’s many escapes certainly don’t bode well for how it competes with companies like SpaceX, but it’s also unreasonable to expect perfection from this stuff.
Even with the increased severity of this latest failure discovered, NASA is still eager to work with Boeing and the Starliner capsule. In its own blog post, NASA said: “In the coming days, NASA and Boeing will continue to work to put all affected valves into the correct configuration. If all valve functionality can be restored and the root cause identified, NASA will work with Boeing to determine a flight path for the important unmanned mission. at the space station. ” It’s unclear how soon the valves will be fixed and when the next Starliner launch will be attempted, but things are moving in the right direction to overcome that and keep moving forward. Hopefully sailing goes smoothly from now on for Boeing.
Source: Boeing, NASA
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