Boeing Starliner Standing Down
KilroySmith writes:
Today, Boeing informed NASA that the company will destack its CST-100 Starliner from the Atlas V rocket and return the spacecraft to the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility
(C3PF) for deeper-level troubleshooting of four propulsion system valves that remain closed after last Tuesday's scrubbed launch.
Boeing's Starliner is a human-rated space capsule built for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Its initial test flight in December 2019 (OFT-1) was partially successful, but due to software errors was unable to dock with the International Space Station. This was to be its second flight test (OFT-2), but less than 24 hours before launch 13 valves in the propulsion system of the capsule were found to be stuck; after several days of "applying mechanical, electrical and thermal techniques to prompt the valves open", seven (and now nine) of the thirteen have been restored to operation. But the remaining four are being recalcitrant, and more invasive work will need to be done.
Previously: Boeing's Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 Mission Runs into Thruster, Scheduling Issues
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