More than six months after its first crewed mission came to a disappointing end, the future of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut capsule is still shrouded in uncertainty. The Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission launched on June 5, but it was plagued by propulsion-system helium leaks and thruster failures, forcing NASA to extend the test period repeatedly.
Despite reaching the International Space Station (ISS) safely, Starliner experienced issues during its approach to the orbiting lab. NASA eventually decided to bring the capsule home uncrewed, which occurred without incident on September 6 in the New Mexico desert.
The mission marked a significant setback for Boeing and NASA, but it has not deterred the agency from moving forward with the development of Starliner. Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, confirmed that the agency is still closely monitoring the situation and is working to identify the root causes of the issues.
“We’re looking at the helium system and we’ve got some candidate seals that we’re going to replace,” Stich said during a press conference on Tuesday. “We’ll get into some testing here over the summer timeframe with what we call an ‘integrated doghouse’ at White Sands, our NASA test facility in New Mexico.”
The thruster problems Starliner experienced during CFT were attributed to overheating of the RCS hardware, which caused some of its Teflon seals to bulge and affect propellant flow. To address this issue, Stich stated that Boeing needs to make changes to the way the thrusters are heated and fired.
“We need to make sure we can eliminate the helium leaks; eliminate the service module thruster issues that we had on docking,” Stich said.
NASA has not yet decided whether the next Starliner flight will carry astronauts or be crewless, but the agency aims to have all systems in place for a potential crewed mission. The goal is to certify Starliner for operational, long-duration astronaut missions shortly after the next flight, if all goes well.
The development of Starliner is crucial for NASA’s low Earth orbit economy, and Stich emphasized the importance of having multiple crew transportation systems in place. With SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule already providing a reliable alternative, Stich stated that Boeing needs to get its act together to ensure the success of the program.
Source: https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/nasa-still-mulling-options-for-boeings-troubled-starliner-astronaut-capsule