Boeing gets ready for Starliner crew ferry test flight number one

• A few years later than anticipated, Boeing’s Starliner capsule will carry out its maiden test flight, going above and beyond budget to demonstrate the replacement of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

• The astronauts aboard Starliner, who are all employed by NASA, are very certain that the spaceship is prepared for the crucial test mission of the International Space Station.

• With the goal of reducing reliance on the Russian Soyuz and resuming American astronaut launches, NASA’s commercial crew programme reached a significant milestone with the launch of Starliner.

After going over budget by more than a billion dollars and being several years behind schedule, Boeing’s Starliner spaceship was finally getting ready for its maiden human launch on Monday. This was a crucial test trip that demonstrated the utilisation of SpaceX while also delivering two senior astronauts to the International Space Station. An alternative to Crew Dragon.
SpaceX has launched 13 manned Dragon spacecraft carrying 50 astronauts, astronauts, and civilians into orbit since May 2020. However, Boeing has been beset by a number of technical issues that need to be thoroughly reworked and further tested without humans before they can be resolved.
All known issues, according to the mission manager, have been fixed, along with a number of additional enhancements and improvements. The spacecraft has also undergone extensive testing to ensure that it is finally prepared to carry passengers to and from the space station safely.

At the Space Force Base near Cape Canaveral, ready for the launch of the spacecraft’s third test flight—the astronaut’s first—is Boeing’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft, which is positioned atop a Joint Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. United Launch Alliance, / Source

The crew aboard Starliner couldn’t be more excited to take off. All of them are current NASA astronauts.
“I have complete faith in the management. According to mission commander Barry “Budg” Wilmore, “their decisions will erode confidence in NASA and Boeing as well as the operation team.” There have previously been a few issues. That is no longer the case. Not just now, however.
Sunita Williams, the co-pilot, concurred and said, “I believe we have picked up a lot of knowledge and have been assimilated. We won’t declare ourselves ready if we aren’t.
Launch site 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base will be aligned with the orbit of the space station by Earth’s rotation at 10:34 p.m. EST on Monday, the time the much-anticipated Starliner rocket’s Joint Launch Alliance Atlas 5 is set to lift off.
When it comes to piloting Starliner on the first test drive, Wilmore and Williams are excellent. Both are the most seasoned astronauts with NASA, having served as former military test pilots. They have completed 500 days in orbit, four space missions, and eleven spacewalks. They both travelled to orbit on the Russian Soyuz manned transport and the orbit Shuttle.
They are now making their first-ever spaceship flying experience.

At the Houston Johnson Space Center’s Starliner simulator, Williams (left) and Wilmore finish the course. Starliner can fly in full manual mode as well, even though it is intended to rendezvous and dock with the International Space Station autonomously. Wilmore and Williams want to test these controls on the spacecraft’s maiden test flight. / Image courtesy of NASA More

With the launch of Starliner, NASA has now sent humans into new spacecraft six times. NASA’s deputy director for space operations, Jim Free, referred to the Starliner human flight test (CFT) as “an absolutely critical milestone.”
“The lives of our crew members Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are in danger,” he stated. Again, let me remind you that this is a brand-new spacecraft. Furthermore, keep in mind that this is a test flight. Naturally, there are certain unknowns in our expedition, and we can run into some unforeseen situations. However, our current task is to be watchful and keep an eye out for issues.
Free expressed his confidence that Starliner was prepared for takeoff, but added that he didn’t want to “go too far” since the crew hadn’t finished the mission. Nevertheless, “when we do this,” he said, “the United States will have two distinct manned space transportation vehicles, providing critical redundancy for access to the International Space Station.” Starliner certification will follow.
Starliner will take around fifteen minutes to reach its inaugural orbit, assuming that the launch goes off without a hitch. According to the flight plan, Wilmore and Williams must keep an eye on the automated docking with the space station, take two breaks to operate the spacecraft manually, and confirm that the crew is capable of adjusting the course or stepping in in the event of a serious malfunction.
The astronauts will dock at the front port of the space station at 12:46 a.m. on May 8 after approaching the station from the back and below and catching up with the laboratory complex early on Wednesday.
NASA’s Tracy Dyson, Commander Oleg Kononenko of Expeditionary Force No. 71, and Nikolai Chub, a member of the Alliance MS-25 crew, They will be greeted by astronaut Alexa Nder Grebenkin, Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Matthew Dominick.
In addition to transferring 750 pounds of equipment to the laboratory and shutting off Starliner’s power, Wilmore and Williams want to spend almost a week on the space station making sure it can serve as a “safe haven” for crew members who are visiting for an extended period of time. The present schedule calls for a dock on May 15, but the landing site’s weather may cause this to alter.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, in contrast to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon astronaut transport, is equipped with airbags and parachutes to aid in landing at government sites in the western United States. / Source: Boeing

In contrast to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, Starliner ends its mission with a splash into the ocean. In order to lessen the shock of landing, Starliner is built to land on ground and uses parachutes along with two sets of consecutive inflatable airbags. The docking aim for the crew flight test is to land at White Sands Airport in New Mexico on May 15.
NASA won’t allow the docking, however, since this is a test mission and the wind at the landing spot must be 6 knots or less. Ten knots is the real landing limit. As a result, NASA could move the night landing to a another place when the desert wind generally subsides.
If everything goes according to plan, NASA management want to certify Starliner for crew ferry flights starting the following year and launch a Crew Dragon and a Starliner annually to replenish the space station crew until the end of this century. retired at the conclusion.
A significant shift in manned spaceflight is represented by the commercial manned plan.
NASA awarded two commercial manned programme contracts in 2014, one to SpaceX for $2.6 billion and the other to Boeing for $4.2 billion, to encourage the development of an independent spacecraft that can transport humans to and from the International Space Station following the decommissioning of the Space Shuttle.
After the space shuttle, NASA wants to stop relying on the Russian Soyuz and start launching American astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. Additionally, NASA needs two separate spacecraft so that humans may go to the International Space Station in the event that a company’s ferry has issues that cause it to become stationary for an extended period of time.
The maiden test flight of the CCP was originally scheduled for 2017. A technical setback and a lack of funding from Congress caused development to be delayed, resulting in an explosion during ground testing and the loss of SpaceX Crew Dragon.
The California rocket company did, however, succeed in sending two NASA astronauts on the Crew Dragon for a test voyage to the space station to launch a human flight in May 2020.
Since then, eight crew rotation trips to the space station and three research missions from the laboratory supported by Houston-based Axiom Space and sponsored by billionaire pilot and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman have been carried out by SpaceX. Two men and two women travelling in low Earth orbit for pure business purposes. A total of fifty Crew Dragon passengers took out into orbit.

At last, the Starliner spaceship was assembled at the Boeing Kennedy Space Centre production facility and joined to the United Launch Soyuz Atlas 5 rocket. /Photo credit: William Harwood/CBS News

This is not the case with Boeing’s Starliner.
Unexpected software and connectivity issues hindered the first unmanned test trip in December 2019 from reaching the space station’s schedule. After fixing these issues, Boeing decided to pay for a second unmanned test flight.
The propulsion system valve jammed in the Starliner service module presented an issue for the engineers during the second countdown, however. Eventually, the engineer attributed the issue to rust and moisture ingress, which resulted in yet another protracted delay.
The second Starliner test mission in May 2022 was successful; it docked with the space station according to schedule and made a precise landing back on Earth. However, the engineers discovered a new issue after the flight: a parachute harness connection issue, as well as a worry that the protective tape around the wire may ignite in the event of a short circuit.
The first human flight was delayed until this year due to the effort needed to fix these issues. To put it simply, Boeing used its own cash to pay for further test flights and remedial actions totaling more than $1 billion.
Boeing’s main responsibilities
Boeing is going through a difficult time, and the latest explosion of the cabin door ‘plug’ on Alaska Airlines flights, coupled with the two well-publicized 737 Max disasters in 2018 and 2019, create even more concerns about the company’s safety culture.
According to Wilmore, he did not consider the Starliner launch to be related to issues with Boeing aircraft.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with Boeing and the flight take-off,” he remarked. Each of them is essential. This is space travel with humans. Have you heard the adage “failure is not an option” since Apollo 13? This is unrelated to the strategy or Boeing. All we do in human spaceflight is this.
“So, this is not more important than anything we are doing,” he remarked. Right now, this is the most crucial thing we are doing.
Williams acknowledged the rough start for Starliner. It’s not easy, I promise. It resembles an emotional roller coaster somewhat.
She did, however, continue, “We are aware that we will arrive at this point. This spacecraft is very robust. At this point, I doubt if I really want to go somewhere.