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      Starliner’s first commander: Don’t expect perfection on crew test flight

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · 3 days ago - 00:19

    Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for fueling.

    Enlarge / Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for fueling. (credit: Boeing )

    HOUSTON—While it doesn't have the same relevance to public consciousness as safety problems with commercial airliners, a successful test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in May would be welcome news for the beleaguered aerospace company.

    This will be the first time the Starliner capsule flies into low-Earth orbit with humans aboard. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are in the final stages of training for the so-called Crew Flight Test (CFT), a milestone running seven years behind the schedule Boeing said it could achieve when it won a $4.2 billion commercial crew contract from NASA a decade ago.

    If schedules hold, Wilmore and Williams will take off inside Boeing's Starliner spacecraft aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket after midnight May 1, local time, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. They will fly Starliner to the International Space Station for a stay of at least eight days, then return the capsule to a parachute-assisted, airbag-cushioned landing in the western United States, likely at White Sands, New Mexico.

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      Maybe, just maybe, Boeing’s Starliner will finally fly astronauts this spring

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Tuesday, 27 February - 20:42

    Boeing's Starliner crew module for the upcoming Crew Flight Test was mated with the spacecraft's service module last year in Florida.

    Enlarge / Boeing's Starliner crew module for the upcoming Crew Flight Test was mated with the spacecraft's service module last year in Florida. (credit: Boeing/Deborah Circelli )

    We've heard this before, but Boeing appears to be a couple of months from finally launching astronauts into orbit aboard the commercial CST-100 Starliner crew capsule.

    It was about two months prior to this mission's previous launch date last July when Boeing and NASA officials decided to put a hold on launch preparations. During their final reviews to certify Starliner for flight nearly a year ago, engineers discovered two technical issues that somehow escaped detection for years.

    One of these issues involved parts of Starliner's parachute deployment system that did not meet required safety specifications. The other was a revelation that Boeing installed flammable tape wrapped around wiring bundles throughout the spacecraft, creating a potential fire hazard. These were the latest in a line of technical problems that have plagued the Starliner program, delaying the new spacecraft's first test flight with astronauts from 2017 until this year.

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      Rocket Report: Starliner launch preps; Indian rocket engine human-rated

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 23 February - 12:00 · 1 minute

    The first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket was lifted onto its launch platform this week in preparation for an April liftoff with two NASA astronauts on Boeing's Starliner Crew Flight Test.

    Enlarge / The first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket was lifted onto its launch platform this week in preparation for an April liftoff with two NASA astronauts on Boeing's Starliner Crew Flight Test. (credit: United Launch Alliance)

    Welcome to Edition 6.32 of the Rocket Report! I'm writing the report again this week as Eric Berger is in Washington, DC, to receive a well-earned honor, the 2024 Excellence in Commercial Space Journalism Award from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Cape Canaveral is the world's busiest spaceport, and this week, three leading US launch companies were active there. SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket, and a few miles away, Blue Origin raised a New Glenn rocket on its launch pad for long-awaited ground testing. Nearby, United Launch Alliance began assembling an Atlas V rocket for the first crew launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in April. 2024 is shaping up to be a truly exciting year for the spaceflight community.

    As always, we welcome reader submissions , and if you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.

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    Astroscale inspector satellite launched by Rocket Lab. Astroscale, a well-capitalized Japanese startup, has launched a small satellite to do something that has never been done in space, Ars reports . This new spacecraft, delivered into orbit on February 18 by Rocket Lab, will approach a defunct upper stage from a Japanese H-IIA rocket that has been circling Earth for more than 15 years. Over the next few months, the satellite will try to move within arm's reach of the rocket, taking pictures and performing complicated maneuvers to move around the bus-size H-IIA upper stage as it moves around the planet at nearly 5 miles per second (7.6 km/s).

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      Le vol habité de la capsule spatiale Starliner vers l’ISS est encore repoussé

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Tuesday, 24 October - 13:55

    starliner

    Attendu cet été, le vol habité de la capsule Starliner a été reporté au printemps 2024. D'abord en mars, puis en avril maintenant. Boeing a pris beaucoup de retard par rapport à SpaceX. [Lire la suite]

    Abonnez-vous aux newsletters Numerama pour recevoir l’essentiel de l’actualité https://www.numerama.com/newsletter/

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      NASA : la capsule Starliner de Boeing à nouveau dans la tourmente

      news.movim.eu / JournalDuGeek · Monday, 5 June, 2023 - 15:00

    starliner-nope-158x105.jpg La capsule Starliner de Boeing

    Plus les mois passent, et plus la capsule spatiale de l'avionneur enchaîne les déconvenues. Cette fois, ce sont deux problèmes de sécurité importants qui ont été identifiés à quelques semaines du lancement.

    NASA : la capsule Starliner de Boeing à nouveau dans la tourmente

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      Boeing finds two serious problems with Starliner just weeks before launch

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Thursday, 1 June, 2023 - 22:55

    The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft jettisons the heat shield before it lands in 2019.

    Enlarge / The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft jettisons the heat shield before it lands in 2019. (credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

    A Boeing official said Thursday that the company was "standing down" from an attempt to launch the Starliner spacecraft on July 21 to focus on recently discovered issues with the vehicle.

    Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for Starliner, said two spacecraft problems were discovered before Memorial Day weekend and that the company spent the holiday investigating them. After internal discussions that included Boeing chief executive Dave Calhoun, the company decided to delay the test flight that would carry NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the International Space Station.

    "Safety is always our top priority, and that drives this decision," Nappi said during a teleconference with reporters.

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      Starliner ne volera pas non plus en avril : son décollage vers l’ISS est décalé à l’été

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Thursday, 30 March, 2023 - 12:19

    Le décollage de Starliner connait une nouvelle glissade de calendrier. Rendez-vous désormais à l'été 2023 pour voir la capsule rejoindre l'ISS, avec deux astronautes à bord. [Lire la suite]

    Abonnez-vous aux newsletters Numerama pour recevoir l’essentiel de l’actualité https://www.numerama.com/newsletter/

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      NASA delays flight of Boeing’s Starliner again, this time for parachutes

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Wednesday, 29 March, 2023 - 21:39

    Starliner touches down in December 2019 for the first time.

    Enlarge / Starliner touches down in December 2019 for the first time. (credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

    NASA and Boeing announced Wednesday that the first crewed flight of the Starliner spacecraft will now take place no earlier than July 21. This moves the vehicle's flight, carrying NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, from the previously announced timeframe of April.

    The manager of NASA's Commercial Crew program, Steve Stich, said the delay was attributable to the extra time needed to close out the pre-flight review process of Starliner and also due to traffic from other vehicles visiting the space station in June and the first half of July.

    "When we look at all the different pieces, most of the work will be complete in April for the flight," Stich said during a teleconference with reporters. "But there's one area that's extending out into the May time frame, and this really has to do with the certification products for the parachute system."

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      Boeing retarde son vol habité avec le Starliner à cause du trafic autour de l’ISS

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · Friday, 4 November, 2022 - 07:36

    La Nasa et Boeing annoncent un vol d'essai habité pour Starliner en avril 2023. Cette date tient compte du trafic important autour de l'ISS en début d'année. [Lire la suite]

    Abonnez-vous aux newsletters Numerama pour recevoir l’essentiel de l’actualité https://www.numerama.com/newsletter/