e-FTW
New electron smell
Another highlight:
Which is a good thing, since the complement of American astronauts falls to 0 in October if no one besides the Russians fly Americans astronauts to the ISS:
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More problems for Boeing.
Michael Sheetz on Twitter
"NASA officials say "a number of problems were found in recent" testing of Starliner's initiators – while Boeing's design was an accepted risk for the uncrewed test, NASA will require additional testing before a crewed flight."
Michael Sheetz on Twitter
"NASA officials say "a number of problems were found in recent" testing of Starliner's initiators – while Boeing's design was an accepted risk for the uncrewed test, NASA will require additional testing before a crewed flight."
That is a charge on Boeing's earnings report due to potential expense, not a charge to NASA.
FTFYCorrect. Boeing hasn't asked for more money....yet. again
Already got $300 million extra
NASA inspector general criticizes additional Boeing commercial crew payments - SpaceNews.com
Basically the initiators for separating the crew and service modules sprays a bunch of debris. Sounds like it could be explosive bolts or something? I am guessing that SpaceX's design with hydraulic pushers works better?
NASA safety panel calls for reviews after second Starliner software problem
That anomaly was discovered during ground testing while the spacecraft was in orbit, panel member Paul Hill said. “While this anomaly was corrected in flight, if it had gone uncorrected, it would have led to erroneous thruster firings and uncontrolled motion during [service module] separation for deorbit, with the potential for a catastrophic spacecraft failure,” he said.
NASA safety panel calls for reviews after second Starliner software problem - SpaceNews.com
That anomaly was discovered during ground testing while the spacecraft was in orbit, panel member Paul Hill said. “While this anomaly was corrected in flight, if it had gone uncorrected, it would have led to erroneous thruster firings and uncontrolled motion during [service module] separation for deorbit, with the potential for a catastrophic spacecraft failure,” he said.
NASA safety panel calls for reviews after second Starliner software problem - SpaceNews.com
ASAP member Paul Hill: a second software issue found with Starliner and corrected; could have led to “catastrophic failure” of spacecraft. Still evaluating root cause. Recommend review of Boeing’s verification processes.
-Jeff Foust
Important comments from NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. "Not a question of whether" Crew Dragon will fly humans. "But when and under what risk conditions." This is the first time I can recall that ASAP has broken with the rhetoric that both companies are experiencing issues. Now, the panel is saying SpaceX is nearly ready, Boeing has quite a bit of work ahead of it.
-Eric Berger
-Jeff Foust
Important comments from NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. "Not a question of whether" Crew Dragon will fly humans. "But when and under what risk conditions." This is the first time I can recall that ASAP has broken with the rhetoric that both companies are experiencing issues. Now, the panel is saying SpaceX is nearly ready, Boeing has quite a bit of work ahead of it.
-Eric Berger
Boeing is really going to need to step it up.
I expect to hear an announcement that the SpaceX crew will now be up for a long term stay instead of the planned short term one. So a delay while the crew is trained for that. This was mentioned during the post-IFA conference as a possibility.
I expect to hear an announcement that the SpaceX crew will now be up for a long term stay instead of the planned short term one. So a delay while the crew is trained for that. This was mentioned during the post-IFA conference as a possibility.
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e-FTW
New electron smell
Right, that is what I wondered about. So this Crew Dragon delay would be caused by Boeing, in effect.
Takes two to tango, and when one missteps, the other has to pick them up!
Eric Berger’s report on Starliner’s difficulties: Starliner faced “catastrophic” failure before software bug found
Quote from article:
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The safety panel also recommended that NASA conduct "an even broader" assessment of Boeing's Systems Engineering and Integration processes. Only after these assessments, Hill said, should NASA determine whether the Starliner spacecraft will conduct a second, uncrewed flight test into orbit before astronauts fly on board. (Boeing recently set aside $410 million to pay for that contingency).
Finally, before the meeting ended, the chair of the safety panel, Patricia Sanders, noted yet another ongoing evaluation of Boeing. "Given the potential for systemic issues at Boeing, I would also note that NASA has decided to proceed with an organizational safety assessment with Boeing as they previously conducted with SpaceX," she said.
Quote from article:
—————————————-
The safety panel also recommended that NASA conduct "an even broader" assessment of Boeing's Systems Engineering and Integration processes. Only after these assessments, Hill said, should NASA determine whether the Starliner spacecraft will conduct a second, uncrewed flight test into orbit before astronauts fly on board. (Boeing recently set aside $410 million to pay for that contingency).
Finally, before the meeting ended, the chair of the safety panel, Patricia Sanders, noted yet another ongoing evaluation of Boeing. "Given the potential for systemic issues at Boeing, I would also note that NASA has decided to proceed with an organizational safety assessment with Boeing as they previously conducted with SpaceX," she said.
Nikxice
Active Member
Probably sounding like Capt. Obvious, but this additionally Starliner anomaly appears to be a pretty big deal. I can't imagine any other outcome for Boeing other than to repeat their uncrewed mission. Berger also writes that the ASAP "panel revealed that Boeing's Starliner may have been lost during a December mission had a software error not been found and fixed while the vehicle was in orbit."
There was a hint of this debacle exactly a month ago, Jan. 7th when Bridenstine gave his Starliner post mission update, The team will review the primary anomalies experienced during the Dec. 2019 flight test."
There was a hint of this debacle exactly a month ago, Jan. 7th when Bridenstine gave his Starliner post mission update, The team will review the primary anomalies experienced during the Dec. 2019 flight test."
Wow, that's pretty damning. Not only will they do a full engineering review, which I had advocated for, but will actually review Boeing as a company. SpaceX may get the last laugh here. NASA (probably with ULA's lobbying) pushed to do a full proctology exam of SpaceX after Elon's weed "smoking" on the Joe Rogan podcast. NASA is now saying fair's fair, and its time to subject Boeing to the same treatment.
Well, it’s a bit of a stretch to equate Elon’s draws on a blunt to multiple mission critical “anomalies” during the Boeing orbital mission, but I agree with your basic point.
It sounded like making the first mission extended duration would cause a delay for training.
If this happens, the Dragon RUD event was sort of helpful because that caused the short mission capsule to be used for the IFA test, and the extended mission capsule then became the first crewed one.
e-FTW
New electron smell
That’s right. NASA/Air Force have already conducted an organizational review of SpaceX.
SpaceX is ready to fly, but that will be delayed to allow for extra astronaut training required by the switching to a long duration mission for Doug and Bob. That was supposed to be the Boeing mission.
Does NASA Trust Boeing?
Quote: “NASA has begun to investigate what’s going inside Starliner’s team, and so far, the findings aren’t good. The space agency says it has uncovered failures at nearly every phase of Starliner’s development, from design and coding to testing and verification. Software defects in code as complex as this aren’t unexpected, NASA says, but there were “numerous instances” before flight when Boeing should have caught them.”
Quote: “NASA has begun to investigate what’s going inside Starliner’s team, and so far, the findings aren’t good. The space agency says it has uncovered failures at nearly every phase of Starliner’s development, from design and coding to testing and verification. Software defects in code as complex as this aren’t unexpected, NASA says, but there were “numerous instances” before flight when Boeing should have caught them.”
"breakdowns in the test and verification phase failed to identify the defects preflight despite their detectability" and "Boeing software quality processes either should have or could have uncovered the defects".
Sounds like they didn't even do proper quality assurance in addition to not being to write code properly.
What the heck has Boeing been doing? If we ever get a true tell-all from inside Boeing, it'll be a humdinger...
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