The Starliner Curse | La Presse

The first manned mission of the capsule Starliner Boeing’s mission was supposed to last 10 days. Mechanical problems have extended that to nearly a month, and the return date has not yet been set. NASA has even checked to see if Starliner could remain docked with the International Space Station (ISS) for three months.

What are the glitches that are making the mission longer?

Before departure, a helium leak was detected and postponed the launch. In orbit, other helium leaks were detected. Helium is used to pressurize the fuel.

In addition, 5 of the 28 rockets exhibited abnormal behavior once the capsule was in orbit. Their lower than normal thrust complicated the securing of Starliner at the SSI on June 6. It had to be done manually rather than on autopilot.

The astronauts of Starliner will they spend the summer in orbit?

The return date to Earth has been postponed twice. At a news conference Friday, NASA said the return will be no sooner than mid-July, after two weeks of rocket testing at NASA’s White Sands Laboratory in New Mexico.

But the head of the program at NASA, Steve Stich, indicated during the press conference that tests were carried out to verify that the batteries of Starliner would be operational for three months, rather than just the current 45-day certification. These batteries are currently in recharge mode on the International Space Station.

This therefore means that NASA does not rule out a return at the end of August.

“The test results [à White Sands] are difficult to predict,” commented Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president responsible for Starliner. “They will last as long as it takes.”

Is there a risk for astronauts?

NASA says no, but several journalists were skeptical during the press conference last Friday. Some have pointed out that it is difficult to think that Boeing’s space division is completely insulated from the manufacturer’s difficulties which have led to several problems in recent years on its airliners, the most recent being the loss of a door in midair. flight.

“It is quite painful to read the things that are circulating,” lamented Mr. Nappi, who assured that Starliner could safely return astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to Earth “at any time.”

The morale of the astronauts is good, assures the director of Boeing. “They know it’s a test flight, they knew we would be in learning mode, everything is fine. This is not unexpected. »

Journalists have complained that NASA sporadically communicates news about the mission and its deadlines, and does not provide sufficient access to the two astronauts of Starliner.

Could it be running out of helium? “We still have 10 times more than we need,” Stich said. A recent test has also shown that leaks are now less significant.

The journalists also made a connection with the problems that the ISS has been experiencing recently. A spacewalk scheduled for July 2 had to be postponed until the end of the month because of a leak in a spacesuit. Earlier last week, the loss of a thousand “parts” of a Russian Earth observation satellite Resurs-P1 forced the nine astronauts on the ISS to seek refuge in Starlinerand the participants in the press conference could not provide any explanations as to the cause of these Russian debris. And last winter, an air leak on the Russian Zvezda module, which has been going on since 2020, worsened.

Why not solve these problems after returning from Starliner ?

Because the rockets are in a “service module” that will disintegrate in the atmosphere upon return.

The purpose of the tests at White Sands is to try to reproduce the rockets’ problems. “Maybe we need to change the way we use it,” Mr. Stich said.

The solutions found at White Sands will be tested in orbit with StarlinerOne problem is measuring the rocket thrust while the capsule is docked to the ISS, which weighs 40 times more. NASA officials have not ruled out separating Starliner of the station to carry out these tests.

What will it be used for? Starliner ?

Like the capsule Crew Dragon SpaceX, which has been operational since 2020, is to bring astronauts to the ISS.

The Boeing capsule competed with the Crew Dragon when NASA awarded contracts worth more than US$7 billion to the two companies in 2014 to develop means of transportation for its astronauts. After the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA depended on Russian capsules Soyuz to get to the ISS.

Watch a 3D animation of the future Gateway lunar station