Mission managers with NASA and Boeing decided to keep the new Starliner spacecraft docked to the International Space Station until at least early July. The capsule, that was boosted to orbit by an Alabama built Atlas-V rocket, is experiencing problems with the thrusters the two astronaut crew members need to make the fiery trip through Earth’s atmosphere at the end of their mission.
Starliner has a series of chemically fueled thrusters in a compartment attached to the crew capsule called the Service Module. A test firing of the jets on the vehicle showed they’re overheating, possibly due to the frequency of the thrusts, or “burns,” that are needed to return the astronauts safely to the Earth. Mission managers are working to test the thrusters to get as much data as they for future Starliner flights which will also be boosted to orbit by an Atlas-V rocket, built at the United Launch Alliance factory in Decatur. Steve Stitch is NASA’s Manager of Commercial Spaceflight. He says not every problem on Starliner could be found during testing on the ground prior to flight.
“Perhaps we could have done different testing on the ground to characterize some of that ahead of time, we did a series of tests called the service module “hot fire” testing at the White Sands Test Facility as well. And now we're kind of working through learning about this vehicle and learning about it in a different way,” he said.
Complicating matters for NASA is that the Service Module, with its errant jet thrusters, separates from Starliner during the trip back to Earth. That part of the vehicle burns up in the atmosphere while the astronauts land in the crew capsule with a system of parachutes and airbags. NASA signed contracts with both Boeing, the builder of Starliner, and SpaceX which flies astronauts and cargo on its “Dragon” capsules and Falcon rockets. The goal was to have two independent ways to get crew members to and from the International Space Station. Stitch compares the development of the SpaceX system and Boeing’s apparently trouble filled spacecraft.
“You know, I stepped back and looked at Dragon and and SpaceX, and they were able to learn a lot about flying in space with their cargo program ahead of demo two, you know, they had many cargo flights,” said Stitch. “They flew to learn and develop their system. And here we are now on our third flight, still learning.”
NASA says the undocking of Starliner will take place after a spacewalk, where two crewmembers aboard ISS will venture outside to perform work on the orbiting outpost. Once all the technical issues on the new capsule are resolved, three astronauts are in training to fly the first “operational mission” of Starliner with a boost to orbit by an Alabama built Atlas-V rocket. Space shuttle veterans Michael Fincke and Scott Tingle will be joined by Canadian rookie astronaut Joshua Kutryk. A launch date for that mission has not been set.
