Long-delayed Boeing Starliner ready for first piloted flight to the International Space Station

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CBS News

May 5, 2024 / 12:02 PM EDT


Years behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget, Boeing's Starliner capsule is finally poised for its first piloted launch Monday, a critical test flight carrying two veteran astronauts to the International Space Station and in so doing, demonstrate an alternative to SpaceX's already operational Crew Dragon.

While SpaceX has launched 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 piloted Crew Dragon flights since May 2020, Boeing has been bedeviled by multiple technical problems that required extensive re-work -- and an additional unpiloted test flight -- to resolve.

But mission managers say all the known issues have been corrected, multiple other upgrades and improvements have been implemented and the spacecraft has been thoroughly tested to verify it is finally ready to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station.

No one is more eager for launch than the Starliner's crew, both active-duty NASA astronauts. "I have full confidence in the management that makes the decisions that filter down to the operations team, full confidence on the NASA side and the Boeing side," said mission commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore. "There have been some issues in the past. That's the past. That is not now."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-delayed-boeing-starliner-ready-first-piloted-flight-international-space-station/

[republianmushroom]

1. One would hope they have given the Starliner better quality control than their planes have gotten.

[johnnyplankton]

2. I hope the doors don't blow off

[Richard D]

3. Doors?

They forgot the doors.

[RussBLib]

4. Sked for 9:34pm Central May 6

...from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

[mercuryblues]

5. Lets hope they don't lose a wing

and end up stranded on Mars.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Boeing has been a major NASA contractor since before Apollo

And as with all of those big companies, the aerospace part is run separately from everything else. NASA oversight doesn't exist on the commercial side, but it certainly does on the civilian aerospace side. (Same thing for Air Force contracts by Boeing and other such companies.)

Boeing's commercial aviation shortcomings are irrelevant to the Starliner. If Starliner does end up having serious problems, it will be for other reasons.

[speak easy]

7. 'it will be for other reasons', like cutting corners?

Oh wait, that's what they did on the commercial aviation side.

[DavidDvorkin]

8. They don't have that leeway on NASA contracts

What's much more likely is lax oversight, as with the Shuttle program, where companies were allowed to do their own inspections (that should have been done or at least overseen by NASA people). That's a recipe for disaster. But since the Challenger disaster, that's far less likely to happen again with NASA contracts.

[Conjuay]

12. nasa can be difficult if you don't follow every step or proceedure.

trust me, I know. We were installing a shelving system and the engineering guys showed up and starting asking about the system specks. They inquired about the torque the various bolts required, and asked to see the certificate showing the wrench had been tested recently.
It was old and pretty beat up, so the boss told us to buy a new on so we could continue without interruption. (sending it out of house to be tested and calibrated would add more than a week to the job.) We showed up the next day with a new torque wrench and got the same questions. We ended up having to send the new one off to be calibrated and certified.
NASA don't play.

[cab67]

9. The ISS is being retired in 6 or 7 years.

Will there be another purpose for the Starliner?

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Blue Origin has been tasked to build a new station

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/commercial-space/nasa-sees-progress-on-blue-origins-orbital-reef-life-support-system/

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/sdr-milestone

[Wonder Why]

11. Any volunteers? Hah! I saw you all take a step backwards! That's cheating!