Tag: Starliner
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Atlas V and Starliner reveal new configuration to mitigate aerodynamic issues
After months of speculation into changes relating to the OML (Outer Mold Line) for the Atlas V and Starliner design, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Boeing finally revealed an updated aerodynamic configuration that provides an aeroskirt aft of the spacecraft to counter loads margins and return the stresses on the stack into acceptable flight levels. Atlas…
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NASA classes MMOD as primary threat to commercial crew vehicles
NASA has claimed the threat of MicroMeteoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) – small pieces of space debris capable of punching bullet hole wounds into spacecraft – is the “primary” threat to the safety of Commercial Crew vehicles. The claim was made as the Agency works on closing the gap between the current analysis of the…
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Video: Gantry swing arm arrives at Atlas 5 pad for astronauts to board Starliners
Constructing the launch pad infrastructure for astronauts to board Boeing’s Starliner crew capsules atop United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets, workers delivered the Crew Access Arm with its White Room to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 on Thursday, Aug. 11. It was built in Oak Hill, just north of the Kennedy Space Center. The 42-foot-long swing…
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Pad hardware changes preview new era for Space Coast
Ongoing work at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral is continuing to lay the groundwork to once again launch American astronauts from home soil. While the huge Pad 39B equipment enters a critical period of testing at KSC for the Space Launch System, the Crew Access Arm and White Room is scheduled to be…
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Boeing nears fix for CST-100 Starliner design hitch
The pressure hull for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner structural test article sits inside a repurposed space shuttle hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in this July 25 photo. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Boeing says engineers are resolving concerns with the mass and aerodynamic shape of the company’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew carrier, and officials are…
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Last shuttle commander ‘back in the fight’ with Boeing
When Chris Ferguson climbed into the commander’s seat of the shuttle Atlantis five years ago Friday for the spaceship’s final flight, he didn’t know what turn his career would take when he returned to Earth. Like many space shuttle workers, Ferguson had to decide what to do next. Atlantis’ final flight, which lifted off July…
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Second Starliner at KSC as Boeing outlines progress at Space Tech Expo
As construction on the second CST-100 Starliner for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Transportation initiative continues in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, Boeing has outlined its progress to date as well as future milestones in the coming two years as the company deepens construction of the first four Starliner modules…
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First astronaut flight on Boeing capsule slips to 2018
The first piloted test flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule has been delayed to early 2018 as designers wrestle with the mass of the spacecraft, aerodynamic loads the vehicle will see during launch, and new software requirements levied by NASA, company officials said. Boeing hoped to launch the first CST-100 Starliner with astronauts…
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Starliner’s first complete hull mated at Kennedy; crew launch delayed to 2018
Boeing has completed a major milestone in their drive to help NASA regain domestic access to space with the mating of two critical portions of their CST-100 Starliner Structural Test Article to complete the first hull of the commercial vehicle. Meanwhile, Boeing has informed investors that the first crewed launch of Starliner will be delayed…
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Boeing’s Starliner schedule for sending astronauts into orbit slips to 2018
The hull of a CST-100 Starliner structural test vehicle is assembled inside Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Credit: NASA) A top Boeing executive said today that the company plans to start sending crews into orbit aboard its CST-100 Starliner space taxi in 2018, which represents a…