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: NASA says
Starliner Crew May Return Home with SpaceX in 2025
The New York Times reports that for weeks, NASA has downplayed problems experienced by Starliner, but on Wednesday, NASA officials admitted that the issues might be more serious than first thought and that the astronauts might not return on the Boeing vehicle. “The agency is exploring a backup option for the astronauts, Suni Wiliams and Butch Wilmore, to instead hitch a ride back to Earth on a spacecraft built by Boeing’s competitor SpaceX. The astronauts’ stay in orbit, which was to be as short as eight days, could be extended into next year.”
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NASA Says Boeing’s Starliner Capable of Staying in Space Beyond 45-Day Limit
SPACE reports, “Boeing’s Starliner capsule is performing well enough on its first-ever astronaut mission that it will likely be able to stay in orbit beyond the initially envisioned 45-day limit, NASA says. Starliner, which launched on June 5, is docked at the International Space Station(ISS) on an indefinite mission extension.”
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NASA to Continue Pursuit of Boeing Starliner Certification
Aviation Week reports, “NASA says it wants to stick with the Boeing CST-100 Starliner to give the space agency options in case the SpaceX Dragon system encounters problems. NASA last year had to lean on the SpaceX system when it experienced technical issues with Starliner during a Crew Flight Test (CFT) that turned a days-long mission into a months-long saga. The propulsion issues drove NASA to return the Boeing capsule to Earth uncrewed and make astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams part of the International Space Station (ISS) crew. They returned to Earth March 18along with NASA’s Crew-9 Dragon commander Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)