CBS News reports that engineers are confident the leak will not worsen in flight, and even if it does, the Starliner can safely launch June 1. The article cites Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, who said that “even if a suspect shirt-button-size rubber seal in the plumbing leading to one specific thruster failed completely in flight — resulting in a leak rate 100 times worse than what’s been observed to date — the Starliner could still fly safely.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Tag: May 28
SpaceX Launches ESA’s EarthCARE Mission on Falcon 9
Space News reports, “A Falcon 9 successfully launched an Earth science mission for Europe and Japan May 28 as part of the European Space Agency’s ongoing, if temporary, reliance on SpaceX for space access … EarthCARE is an 800-million-euro ($870 million) ESA-led mission to study clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. The spacecraft carries four instruments, including a cloud profiling radar provided by the Japanese space agency JAXA at a cost of 8.3 billion yen ($53 million). JAXA dubbed the spacecraft Hakuryu or ‘White Dragon’ because of the spacecraft’s appearance.”
Full Story (Space News)
Video
SpaceX EarthCARE Launch
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)