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DannyB [soylentnews.org] writes:

I flew Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in 4 different simulators. Here's what I learned [space.com]

"That's what we're paid to do, is overcome problems."

[....] "This is an alarming rotation rate. If we saw this in real life, there would be problems," Ray Bigonesse, lead rendezvous officer for Boeing's new Starliner [space.com] astronaut taxi, told my crew as he twisted the joystick. Luckily for us, we were not in space but in a simulator at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) [space.com] here. Also, Bigonesse emphasized, no real-life crew would even attempt what we were doing, for obvious safety reasons.

[....] Astronauts are preparing for future Starliner missions here, at the Jake Garn Mission Simulator and Training Facility (Building 5). In fact, they've been doing it for years. Two astronauts — NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — will fly on Starliner's 10-day Crew Flight Test mission, or CFT, which is scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station [space.com] (ISS) no earlier than May 6. Next in line is a trio of astronauts at the least, for the operational six-month Starliner-1 flight in 2025.

[....] SpaceX first launched astronauts to the ISS in 2020, while Boeing's debut crewed effort has been delayed due to numerous technical issues. [space.com] The long wait will be worth it for safety, Boeing and NASA repeatedly emphasized to reporters during our visit. And, for the astronauts, any extra training time in the "sim" is a boon.

Bigonesse was helming a Crew Part-Task Trainer at JSC for us to simulate docking and undocking with the ISS. Before he spun the spacecraft, the display showed our Starliner safely approaching the complex in an imaginary seven-degree cone. The cone was quite obviously displayed on the screen, making it easy to see that we were on course.

"With the exception of real buttons, this is exactly what it looks like," Bigonesse said of the cockpit. "In fact, the display parts are exactly what the real displays are showing. If I didn't mention it earlier, we're running the actual flight software."

[....] As an example, she said the team made design changes to the software following a cockpit test in which the team found "discrepancies that we wanted to get fixed," changes that made it easier the second time they attempted the test.

[....] Unlike SpaceX, Boeing elected to use switches, buttons and manual controllers in the spacecraft because touchscreens are usually not "hardened" or protected against radiation. The company also preferred the old-school style to make it harder to accidentally trigger the wrong setting if an astronaut brushed against the controls.

[....] The simulator produces normal launch noises and displays, if not the sensations. We heard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket — Starliner's ride off Earth — ignite, along with the firing up of the solid rocket boosters. The "eight ball" indicating forces of gravity upon us began rocking, and various displays showed us the time remaining until main engine cutoff, notional velocity and other critical numbers to tell us if things were going well (or not).

Given the astronauts and teams are used to nominal and off-nominal scenarios after years working of together, the refinement is now about communication. [.... rest omitted ....]

Interesting to use touch screens in the simulator, but old school buttons in the flight hardware. (See image in original article)

See Also:
SpaceX used JavaScript in Dragon Flight - But WHY? [youtube.com]
JavaScript Reaches the Final Frontier: Space [infoq.com]
SpaceX also made use of Chromium and JavaScript for Dragon 2 flight interface. [ycombinator.com]

Original Submission