Tag: Starliner

Helium Leak Presents No Safety Threat to Boeing’s Starliner Capsule According to NASA

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)

Boeing to Launch First Crewed Test Flight Tonight

The Washington Post reports, “A decade after NASA awarded Boeing a contract to fly astronauts to the ISS, Boeing will finally attempt to fly its Starliner spacecraft with people onboard. If all goes to plan, at 10:34 p.m. on Monday, the company is set to fly a pair of veteran astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, on a mission that will be one of the most significant tests for Boeing’s space division — and for NASA — in years.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

Boeing Starliner Crewed Test Flight Passes Critical Review

Space News reports, “The first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is a step closer to launch after completing a major pre-launch review April 25. NASA announced at an April 25 briefing that, at the completion of the two-day Flight Test Readiness Review, officials approved plans to proceed with the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission, with a launch scheduled for 10:34 p.m. Eastern May 6 from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex (SLC) 41.”
Full Story (Space News)

Boeing Starliner’s Future Is Unclear After Returning Without Astronauts

The New York Times reports that Boeing’s Starliner “has finally come home, but the two NASA astronauts who traveled in it to the International Space Station in June remain in orbit. Because of problems with Starliner’s propulsion system during its approach to the space station in June, NASA officials decided not to put the astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, on Starliner for the return trip. They will spend an additional five months on the space station as part of the crew before coming back to Earth around February in a spacecraft built and managed by SpaceX.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)
Full Story (NYT via Yahoo News)

Wilmore Reports Strange Noise Coming from Starliner Spacecraft

Ars Technica reports, “On Saturday NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore noticed some strange noises emanating from a speaker inside the Starliner spacecraft. ‘I’ve got a question about Starliner,’ Wilmore radioed down to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center in Houston. ‘There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker… I don’t know what’s making it.’ Wilmore said he was not sure if there was some oddity in the connection between the station and the spacecraft causing the noise, or something else. He asked the flight controllers in Houston to see if they could listen to the audio inside the spacecraft. A few minutes later, Mission Control radioed back that they were linked via ‘hardline’ to listen to audio inside Starliner, which has now been docked to the International Space Station for nearly three months.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

NASA Postpones Return of Boeing Starliner Crew Until March

The Washington Post reports, “The two Boeing Starliner astronauts kept unexpectedly on the International Space Station since June have had their stay extended yet again because the next crew will arrive later than originally anticipated, NASA said this week. Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita Williams were previously expected to return in February after spending several months longer in orbit than planned.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

Boeing Closer to Understanding Thruster Failures After Latest Testing

AP News reports, “Boeing is closer to understanding what went wrong with its astronaut capsule in orbit, now that testing is complete on a spare thruster here on Earth. … Officials said Thursday there’s still no return date for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Engineers will first disassemble the thruster that was test-fired in New Mexico over the past couple of weeks. Then they’ll analyze the data before clearing Starliner for the trip home.”
Full story (AP News)

NASA Astronauts Are Sure That Boeing’s Starliner Will Get Them Home

The Washington Post reports, “The two NASA astronauts who flew in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station last month said Wednesday that they have no concerns the capsule will be able to fly them home safely, even as their return has been postponed indefinitely while NASA and Boeing struggle to determine what caused a series of thruster failures and helium leaks.”
Full Story (The Washington Post)

NASA’s NEOWISE Spacecraft Set to Retire at End of Month

Flying Magazine reports that NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, “has taken millions of infrared measurements and studied tens of thousands of asteroids, comets, stars, galaxies, and other objects.” In late 2024 or early 2025, the spacecraft “is expected to come home in pieces following the conclusion of its second mission later this month.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

NASA Orders More Starliner Tests as Crew Remains in Space

Ars Technica reports, “NASA and Boeing officials pushed back Friday on headlines that the commercial Starliner crew capsule is stranded at the International Space Station but said they need more time to analyze data before formally clearing the spacecraft for undocking and reentry. Two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams will spend at least a few more weeks on the space station as engineers on the ground conduct thruster tests to better understand issues with the Starliner propulsion system in orbit.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Astronauts Remain at ISS as Engineers Examine Issues with Starliner’s Propulsion System

The Washington Post reports, “Before Boeing’s first flight with humans on its Starliner spacecraft earlier this month, the company and NASA said repeatedly that a rigorous testing program following years of delays and costly setbacks meant it was finally ready to fly astronauts. Instead of coming home after about eight days, the spacecraft remains docked to the station, its return delayed indefinitely while teams continue to troubleshoot a series of problems in the capsule’s propulsion system.”
Full Story (The Washington Post – Subscription Publication)

Starliner Return Delayed a Few More Days as NASA and Boeing Study Data

Ars Technica reports, “NASA and Boeing will take an additional four days to review all available data about the performance of the Starliner spacecraft before clearing the vehicle to return to Earth, officials said Tuesday. Based on the new pending schedule, Starliner would undock at 10:10 pm ET on Tuesday, June 25, from the ISS. This would set up a landing at 4:51 ET on June 26 at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Crewed Starliner Launch Scrubbed Due to Valve Issue

Space News reports, “Controllers scrubbed the first attempt to launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on a crewed test flight May 6 because of a valve problem with the rocket, delaying the launch by at least four days. The launch director for the Atlas 5 rocket called for the scrub a little more than two hours before the scheduled 10:34 p.m. Eastern launch of the Crew Flight Test mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (Space News)

Boeing Starliner’s First Crewed Test Flight Scheduled for Next Week

Flying Magazine reports, “A historic NASA launch planned for early next week could have major implications for the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which ferries astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and low-Earth orbit in partnership with private companies. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will finally make its first crewed flight test on Monday. Boeing on Friday confirmed that NASA gave Starliner the ‘go to proceed.’”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

CST-100 Starliner Arrives at Pad for Crewed Test Flight

Space News reports, “Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is now installed on the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch the spacecraft on a crewed test flight to the International Space Station next month. The spacecraft rolled out from Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 41 in the early morning hours April 16.”
Full Story (Space News)