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Boeing to Launch Starliner Spacecraft for Second Go at Reaching the ISS after First Mission Failed

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday April 08 2020, @07:38AM   Printer-friendly
from the second-time's-a-charm? dept.

martyb writes:

Boeing to Launch Starliner Spacecraft for Second go at Reaching the ISS After First Mission Failed:

On Monday, Boeing announced it will take a second shot at sending an uncrewed Starliner to the station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The program aims to launch astronauts from US soil for the first time since the end of the space shuttle era in 2011.

[...] "We have chosen to refly our Orbital Flight Test to demonstrate the quality of the Starliner system," Boeing in a brief statement. "Flying another uncrewed flight will allow us to complete all flight test objectives and evaluate the performance of the second Starliner vehicle at no cost to the taxpayer."

Boeing and NASA have not yet revealed a date for the launch. Starliner must pass its uncrewed flight tests before NASA uses it to send astronauts to the ISS.

Do not cry too much for Boeing as they are the prime contractor for the SLS (Space launch System) which is currently funded to the tune of over $1 billion per year.

Previously:
(2020-03-07) Boeing Hit With 61 Safety Fixes for Astronaut Capsule
(2020-03-01) Boeing Acknowledges "Gaps" in its Starliner Software Testing
(2020-02-07) NASA Safety Panel Calls for Reviews after Second Starliner Software Problem
(2019-12-24) Boeing Starliner Lands Safely in the Desert After Failing to Reach Correct Orbit
(2019-12-23) Boeing's Failed Starliner Mission Strains 'Reliability' Pitch
(2019-12-20) Starliner Fails to Make Journey to ISS
(2019-11-19) Boeing Provides Damage Control After Inspector General's Report on Commercial Crew Program
(2019-11-06) Boeing Performs Starliner Pad Abort Test. Declares Success Though 1 of 3 Parachutes Fails to Deploy.
(2019-09-03) Boeing Readies "Astronaut" for Likely October Test Launch
(2018-04-07) Boeing Crewed Test Flight to the ISS May be Upgraded to a Full Mission

Click to search SoylentNews for more Starliner stories.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Wednesday April 08 2020, @02:23PM (3 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Wednesday April 08 2020, @02:23PM (#980255)

    After al the incompetence that Boeing has shown recently, what kind of idiot would want to risk his life in a crewed flight test for Boeing?

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday April 08 2020, @04:02PM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Wednesday April 08 2020, @04:02PM (#980288) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCV-2 [wikipedia.org]

    Sunita Williams
    Josh A. Cassada
    Thomas Pesquet
    Andrei Borisenko

    Those are the names of the doomed ones. Also, I'm surprised the crew size is 4 and not 2, guess I wasn't paying close attention to this.

    Boeing put a dollar amount on the cost of another uncrewed flight, and it was (publicly) not known if it would even happen (i.e. they would move directly to launch crispynauts):

    Boeing reports a $410M charge in case NASA decides Starliner needs another uncrewed launch [techcrunch.com]

    Boeing reported its fourth-quarter results this morning, and they included a $410 million charge specifically earmarked to cover the cost of an additional Commercial Crew mission, should NASA determine that another uncrewed launch is required after the first one didn’t go as planned last December.

    No decision yet on need for second Starliner uncrewed test flight [spacenews.com]

    Although an independent review team has wrapped up its investigation into issues with last December’s uncrewed test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, NASA says it will be some time before it decides if a second uncrewed test flight is needed.

    [...] Loverro said there was no decision on whether Boeing would need to perform a second uncrewed test flight or move directly to a crewed test flight as originally planned.

    “Quite frankly, right now, we don’t know” if Boeing will need a second uncrewed test flight, he said. The company needs to first come back to NASA with a plan and schedule for implementing those corrective actions, and then carry out that work for inspection by NASA.

    --
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  • (Score: 3, Touché) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 08 2020, @10:41PM (1 child)

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Wednesday April 08 2020, @10:41PM (#980411)

    Boeing are not incompetent once you accept that they're not in the rocket building business, they are in the business of turning taxpayer's money into dividends for shareholders, and they are very good at that.

    • (Score: 2) by Kell on Wednesday April 08 2020, @11:19PM

      by Kell (292) on Wednesday April 08 2020, @11:19PM (#980429)

      +1 Cynical Truth

      --
      Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.