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Boeing readies 'astronaut' for likely October test launch
Earlier this week, Boeing welcomed its newest astronaut to the Starliner team. Unlike other crew members, he doesn't have advanced degrees in aerospace or much experience at all. In fact, he's pretty dumb.
Meet the Boeing Starliner's anthropometric test device, also known as a crash-test dummy. Its name and gender have not yet been revealed, but a group of engineers and technicians suited up the dummy, which will fly on the inaugural flight of the Starliner spacecraft now slated to launch late September or early October from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
It took a team of five people to wrestle the rigid plastic dummy into the space suit. Melanie Weber, a Starliner design engineer, joked: "It's like trying to get a bride in a wedding dress when's she's gained 10 pounds."
The procedure brings Boeing one step closer to launching humans to orbit, something that hasn't happened from U.S. soil since the end of the shuttle program in 2011.
Related Stories
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.
Boeing hit with 61 safety fixes for astronaut capsule:
In releasing the outcome of a joint investigation, NASA said it still has not decided whether to require Boeing to launch the Starliner again without a crew, or go straight to putting astronauts on board.
Douglas Loverro, NASA's human exploration and operation chief, told reporters that Boeing must first present a plan and schedule for the 61 corrective actions. Boeing expects to have a plan in NASA's hands by the end of this month.
Loverro said the space agency wants to verify, among other things, that Boeing has retested all the necessary software for Starliner.
"At the end of the day, what we have got to decide is ... do we have enough confidence to say we are ready to fly with a crew or do we believe that we need another uncrewed testing," Loverro said.
Boeing's Jim Chilton, a senior vice president, said his company is ready to repeat a test flight without a crew, if NASA decides on one.
"'All of us want crew safety No. 1," Chilton said. "Whatever testing we've got to do to make that happen, we embrace it."
Loverro said he felt compelled to designate the test flight as a "high-visibility close call." He said that involves more scrutiny of Boeing and NASA to make sure mistakes like this don't happen again.
Software errors not only left the Starliner in the wrong orbit following liftoff and precluded a visit to the International Space Station but they could have caused a collision between the capsule and its separated service module toward the end of the two-day flight. That error was caught and corrected by ground controllers just hours before touchdown.
Citation: Boeing hit with 61 safety fixes for astronaut capsule (2020, March 6) retrieved 6 March 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-03-boeing-safety-astronaut-capsule.html
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 03 2019, @11:57AM (2 children)
The procedure, eh?
O tempora... when getting a bride in a wedding dress is a small step for a team of men, a giant step for... (large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Tuesday September 03 2019, @03:20PM
Luckily it is Melanie and not Mike Weber. Because if it were Mike, all hell would break loose about his insensitive, body-shaming paternalistic, #MeToo, trumptard attitude. He would be out the door before the end of the day.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:45PM
Only five people?
Newsflash: a rigid plastic dummy cannot struggle nor offer resistance.
How many people will Boeing have to use to wrestle the astronaut into the space suit?
Or passengers into a 737 Max?
Q. How much did Santa's sled cost?
A. Nothing. It was on the house.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:25PM (1 child)
Make us proud! *Sniff*
(In case you are wondering, robots are indeed very emotional. Just not when dealing with meatbags)
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Funny) by takyon on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:32PM
How do they feel about being handled like some meatbag's sweaty wife?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday September 03 2019, @12:47PM (2 children)
Maybe many other possibilities, but that seems the appropriate name.
That or Crashy McCrashface
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Tuesday September 03 2019, @03:57PM
"also known as a crash-test dummy. Its name and gender have not yet been revealed, "
I'm thinking Celine Dion or Justin Bieber. Or suggestion.
Men. Same thing.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday September 03 2019, @06:46PM
Crashtronaut.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by choose another one on Tuesday September 03 2019, @01:39PM (7 children)
SpaceX already launched and retrieved "Ripley", so the US is already this close, and SpaceX didn't seem to have the same problems getting he/she/it suited up.
Note that I am not clear if Ripley is still around or if they are still scraping bits of it off the test site after the static fire "anomaly", but that score is even too because Boeing already had a hydrazine "anomaly" with Starliner, June 2018 I think?, it's just that one isn't as widely known because we didn't get to see it go bang all over the internet...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @02:08PM (4 children)
Not sure why they need the dummy, but for all their issues, actually launching seems good.
(Score: 4, Touché) by DannyB on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:48PM (3 children)
Maybe the dummy is the closest equivalent to a human and thus maybe best way to gather data on forces, air pressure, bad ground crew jokes, etc.
Q. How much did Santa's sled cost?
A. Nothing. It was on the house.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday September 03 2019, @07:17PM (2 children)
He was the only person they could find who was still willing to fly Boeing?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 03 2019, @09:49PM (1 child)
There's still some doubt on the willingness aspect, given it took a team to wrestle it in that space suit
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Tokolosh on Wednesday September 04 2019, @02:51AM
https://youtu.be/DaJOeLuUD94 [youtu.be]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @10:53PM (1 child)
Yeah but Musky incel cuddle puddle couch. The Chads in charge of Boeing would never engage in sexual harassment [eeoc.gov]. Musky dorks are a menace to women!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 03 2019, @11:14PM
The virgin hotboxed [fortune.com] clunker vs. the chad pussy-grabbing chariot.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MrGuy on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:18PM (2 children)
Vehicle crash test dummies make sense to me. They're designed to specifically to experience high-impact collisions and give insight into human survivability should such collision occur.
I don't get the parallel for spacecraft.
If they want to measure (say) G-forces experienced during engine firing, a.) we're already pretty darn good at that math, and b.) it can be measured pretty easily without a human analog. Car companies (by analogy) don't need crash test dummies (and, to my knowledge, don't use them) to test the vehicle operating within normal limits.
Unlike cars, spacecraft aren't designed to expect significant damaging collisions under normal circumstances. And should they experience one, they're generally not designed for significant survivability. It's either fine, or it's f*cked. A front-impact crumple zone isn't going to help all that much.
I can accept that, on any new spacecraft, there's a whole host of design considerations for human comfort/survivability that need to be done. It's just surprising to me that a "human analog" that's actually riding the spacecraft is part of the process...
Is this a real, useful step, or is this a publicity stunt?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:36PM
Crew Dragon had its own dummy. Could be more useful than you realize, PR to show off the new spacesuits, or just another NASA requirement.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday September 03 2019, @04:38PM
They can be outfitted with things like G sensors and position sensors. Might not be meant to measure impact but things like how much transmitted vibration is there to avoid organ damage from things like engine firing and stage separation.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1) by jman on Wednesday September 04 2019, @02:27AM
Though part of me loves the thought of Buster in orbit, considering we're talking about a dummy here, the obvious choice would seem to be "Mad" Mike Hughes...