Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The Boeing Starliner, one of two new spacecraft to take astronauts from US soil to the International Space Station (ISS), has returned to Earth safely after its somewhat shaky first Orbital Flight Test. The capsule blasted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket without any drama, but soon after a timing glitch prevented the spacecraft from reaching its planned orbit, denying a rendezvous with the ISS. On Sunday, Starliner returned to Earth, deploying parachutes and airbags to land safely in New Mexico.
"You look at the landing, it was an absolute bulls-eye," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator, in a press conference Sunday. The capsule landed in the desert just before 5 a.m. PT, its trio of parachutes carrying it safely to the earth. It was the first time a capsule was safely brought back to US soil in history.
However, while the landing was on target, Starliner's journey in space was a different story.
Also at: Starliner makes a safe landing—now NASA faces some big decisions
Previously: Starliner Fails to Make Journey to ISS
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.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-50855395
The Boeing company is going to have to cut short the uncrewed demonstration flight of its new astronaut capsule.
The Starliner launched successfully on its Atlas rocket from Florida, but then suffered technical problems that prevented it from taking the correct path to the International Space Station.
It appears the capsule burnt too much fuel as it operated its engines, leaving an insufficient supply to complete its mission.
Starliner will now come back to Earth. A landing is planned in the New Mexico desert in about 48 hours.
See also:
https://spacenews.com/starliner-suffers-off-nominal-orbital-insertion-after-launch/
https://spacenews.com/starliner-anomaly-to-prevent-iss-docking/
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
Independent reviewers offer 80 suggestions to make Starliner safer
Following the failed test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in December, NASA on Monday released the findings of an investigation into the root causes of the launch's failure and the culture that led to them.
Over the course of its review, an independent team identified 80 "recommendations" for NASA and Boeing to address before the Starliner spacecraft launches again. In addition to calling for better oversight and documentation, these recommendations stress the need for greater hardware and software integration testing. Notably, the review team called for an end-to-end test prior to each flight using the maximum amount of flight hardware available.
This is significant, because before the December test flight, Boeing did not run an integrated software test that encompassed the roughly 48-hour period from launch through docking to the station. Instead, Boeing broke the test into chunks. The first chunk ran from launch through the point at which Starliner separated from the second stage of the Atlas V booster.
Previously: Boeing's Failed Starliner Mission Strains 'Reliability' Pitch
Boeing Starliner Lands Safely in the Desert After Failing to Reach Correct Orbit
NASA Safety Panel Calls for Reviews after Second Starliner Software Problem
Boeing Acknowledges "Gaps" in its Starliner Software Testing
Boeing Hit With 61 Safety Fixes for Astronaut Capsule
Boeing to Launch Starliner Spacecraft for Second Go at Reaching the ISS after First Mission Failed
(Score: 4, Informative) by Gaaark on Tuesday December 24 2019, @02:09AM (8 children)
I wanted to do a really nice forward twisting somersault dive into the water but instead did a belly flop.
But I landed in the pool, so HEY! Nice job me!
--- 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 takyon on Tuesday December 24 2019, @02:14AM
Astronauts will boldly go where no Boeing Starliner has gone before: the ISS.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday December 24 2019, @02:15AM (5 children)
You didn't get enough height off the board. It was some kind of timing issue. But they fired your head coach, so keep trying.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday December 24 2019, @02:47AM (4 children)
That's a recipe for a serious injury.
This was an impressive demonstration of all the systems, except the orbital insertion burn - do you think they ran that subsystem on Windows 10 and it demanded to update?
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Tuesday December 24 2019, @04:01AM
I wouldn't put it past them. I commented elsewhere that it was probably running MCAS software. I don't think people got it. Or they did and realized how bad things really are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 24 2019, @05:03AM (2 children)
Listen to the press conference.
They keep repeating it was just a timing issue, but a whole hoard of things went wrong. Whatever redundancies/fail-safes they had, didn't work. They don't know why. The engines burnt themselves out beyond safe margins. The pod itself failed to properly deploy its communications equipment (which is why they couldn't remotely control), and many other things. The whole mission was a blazing cluster fuck that they're now blaming on a timing error. Ironically saying you screwed up one of the most fundamental aspects of any launch (indicating gross ineptitude) is their effort at running PR for the disaster that this thing was.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 24 2019, @05:37AM (1 child)
1. It was just a little timing issue. Everything else was an act of God!
2. It seems to me that they have been successful at confusing the issue, or I haven't been paying enough attention. But they can't cover up the "go fever" for the next launch of Starliner to be crewed (and forget an in-flight abort test). That is transparent and baffling.
3. Is it legal to bet on whether astronauts will die on either the Dragon or Starliner mission?
lol [seradata.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday December 24 2019, @11:11AM
Maybe it was an Imperial to Metric conversion problem....they converted seconds to litres!
--- 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 c0lo on Tuesday December 24 2019, @06:52AM
Heh, they may have used a reserve golden parachute [soylentnews.org] for the landing purpose.
Also, looks like they are experimenting a new propulsion fuel, I suppose will see more frequent CEO firing tests in the near future.
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 24 2019, @11:16AM
Pilot's error? Oh, no pilot so it's timing... Yeah, the clock did it. But otherwise, "You look at the landing, it was an absolute bulls-eye".
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday December 24 2019, @04:10PM (3 children)
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Tuesday December 24 2019, @04:13PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday December 24 2019, @04:17PM (1 child)
Fixed.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by iWantToKeepAnon on Thursday January 09 2020, @03:52PM
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy