NASA will talk about the delayed return of Boeing’s Starliner capsule to Earth during a press conference today (June 18), and you can listen to it live.
NASA and Boeing representatives will discuss progress Starlinermission in International Space Station (ISS), which docked on June 6 after experiencing several helium leaks and problems with five Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters on board. The press conference begins at 12 noon EDT (1700 GMT) and you can listen to it live here on Space.com via NASA TV.
The Starliner’s first docking attempt was delayed due to problems with the RCS engine, but the rendezvous was successfully achieved on the second attempt a few hours later on 6 June. Since then, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams have been testing the thrusters to evaluate and detect problems. Spacecraft performance.
Starliner was expected to spend about a week on the ISS, but NASA and Boeing have extended the capsule’s orbital stay until at least June 22. “The safe haven is to test and evaluate driving with the front window,” Steve Stich, director of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement. Latest agency statement.
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Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon capsules are the two special vehicles chosen by NASA to transport the agency’s astronauts to and from the International Space Station. (The Russian Soyuz spacecraft also provides this service, on astronaut-piloted missions.) Starliner is currently performing a test mission, known as a crew flight test (CFT), aimed at verifying the capsule before the first operational mission, called Starliner-1. , expected in 2025.
CFT has the flexibility to stay for several months if necessary. The crew and NASA have repeatedly said that safety always trumps any predetermined schedule for launch, docking, landing or other mission events.
Both Starliner and the Dragon It was funded by NASA in 2014 for missions expected no later than 2017, although technical and funding issues have delayed that timeline for years. SpaceX, which relies on its robotic spacecraft to carry cargo to the International Space Station, sent its first crewed Dragon mission into space in 2020 after one unmanned test flight to the orbiting laboratory.
Starliner, a new spacecraft design, is required More work. Its December 2019 unmanned test mission did not reach the International Space Station as planned after a computer glitch left the Starliner stranded in the wrong orbit. The next unmanned mission will not be launched until 2022, after errors in the first flight and the outbreak of the Corona virus were addressed. While the second mission went as planned, new problems with flammable tape and parachute loading delayed the CFT to 2024.
The CFT launch was scheduled for May 6, but that day’s attempt was canceled just two hours before launch due to a problem with the valve in United Launch Alliance Atlas V missile.
NASA and Boeing then detected a small helium leak aboard the Starliner that affected one of its engines, requiring a lengthy evaluation. Team members also found a design issue potentially impacting reentry that would require certification of a new reentry status LandWhich astronauts tested on Earth before leaving home. The mission eventually lifted off on June 5, on its third launch day attempt.
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