{"id":12719,"date":"2020-01-15T21:24:50","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T13:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/boeing-expects-minimal-refurbishment-on-reusable-starliner-crew-capsule\/"},"modified":"2020-01-15T21:24:50","modified_gmt":"2020-01-15T13:24:50","slug":"boeing-expects-minimal-refurbishment-on-reusable-starliner-crew-capsule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/boeing-expects-minimal-refurbishment-on-reusable-starliner-crew-capsule\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing expects \u2018minimal refurbishment\u2019 on reusable Starliner crew capsule"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Boeing\u2019s first space-ready Starliner crew capsule, named Calypso, is back inside the company\u2019s assembly facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a two-day orbital test flight in December. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While NASA and Boeing engineers investigate the cause of a software error that cut short the first orbital test flight of the Starliner crew capsule last month, ground teams have returned the spaceship from its landing site in New Mexico back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

Preliminary inspections indicate the reusable spacecraft weathered its first trip into orbit better than expected, and Boeing teams are confident the ship will need only \u201cminimal refurbishment\u201d before its next launch with astronauts.<\/p>\n

While teams sort out the Starliner software problem, Boeing says the hardware performed as designed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in really good shape, very little external wear on the outside,\u201d said Tim Reith, spacecraft engineering manager for Boeing\u2019s Starliner program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team built an awesome vehicle,\u201d said Ramon Sanchez, senior operations lead for Boeing\u2019s commercial crew program.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the most part, the vehicle performed very well, and we\u2019re looking at minimal refurbishment to return this thing to flight,\u201d Sanchez told reporters Wednesday during a media briefing inside Boeing\u2019s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

The capsule landed Dec. 22 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, descending under parachutes before deploying airbags to cushion its touchdown in the remote desert. The unpiloted Orbital Test Flight lifted off Dec. 20 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, but a timing error in the Starliner\u2019s software that went undiscovered before launch caused the spacecraft to miss a planned orbital insertion burn.<\/p>\n

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The crew module\u2019s 12 control thrusters consumed less hydrazine fuel than expected during re-entry. The rocket jets are used only during re-entry to control the capsule\u2019s orientation. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The insertion burn was planned a few minutes after the Atlas 5\u2019s Centaur upper stage deployed the Starliner spacecraft on a trajectory with a velocity just shy of that needed to enter a stable orbit. The Atlas 5 put the Starliner where it needed to be, and the Boeing capsule\u2019s orbital maneuvering rockets were supposed to ignite to boost the spaceship into a preliminary orbit to begin its pursuit of the space station.<\/p>\n

But an on-board mission elapsed timer had a wrong setting, causing the Starliner spacecraft\u2019s computers to believe the capsule was operating in a different phase of its mission. The capsule\u2019s service module began firing maneuvering thrusters to control the vehicle\u2019s pointing, consuming much of the craft\u2019s fuel and causing it to miss the automated orbit insertion burn.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft was trying to perform two functions at the same time time, Reith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where the vehicle got a little confused,\u201d he said. \u201cThe orbit insertion, which the vehicle thought had already happened in the past, it was trying to prepare for that, as well as do some pointing guidance, and those two events were kind of in conflict with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s were we had the vehicle kind of fighting itself, if you will, and the thruster firings going,\u201d Reith said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got multiple software sequences running, so that\u2019s where it got confused with multiple things going on at the same time.<\/p>\n

Ground controllers noticed the problem and tried to intervene, but commands to override the Starliner\u2019s automation did not reach the spacecraft in time to perform the planned orbit insertion burn and keep the mission on track to dock with the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s automated, so the vehicle should have started moving itself toward this orbit insertion burn,\u201d Reith said. \u201cWhen that wasn\u2019t happening, the flight control team in Houston and the engineering support teams around the country, we were able to figure that out pretty quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very intense,\u201d said Reith, who also served as spacecraft chief engineer in the Starliner mission support room during last month\u2019s mission. \u201cYou also have to remember this was the first time we\u2019d seen it fly, so you have an expectation of what should happen, but at the same time you\u2019re not sure what it\u2019s going to do. So as you\u2019re seeing things for the first time, you\u2019re trying to understand is that what it should be doing, or is there something anomalous going on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEssentially, there are two opportunities for us to prepare for that orbit insertion burn,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen the first opportunity missed, and at the same time we were watching the telemetry from the vehicle with a lot of thruster firings, you start realizing, OK, something\u2019s not right. So the flight control team attempted to send commands, and the vehicle wasn\u2019t in a really good orientation from an antenna standpoint to receive those commands. So it kind of went on for a while until we got the antennas where we could get a good command to the vehicle. Once we got that command uplinked, we were able to turn the vehicle and do that orbit insertion burn that at least raised it up a little bit. But by that time we had expended a lot of propellant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of performing the pre-programmed insertion burn, the Starliner fired its engines to reach a stable orbit that ensured the capsule could safely return to Earth. By that time, the capsule had consumed too much propellant to complete the required burns to pursue the space station and perform a docking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had full control of the vehicle,\u201d Reith said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t tumble or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The original eight-day flight plan, which included demonstration maneuvers and a docking with the space station, was shortened to two days. The capsule successfully landed in New Mexico, achieving many \u2014 but not all \u2014 of the planned objectives of Boeing\u2019s Orbital Flight Test.<\/p>\n

The demonstration mission was a precursor to the first planned Starliner mission with astronauts \u2014 known as the Crew Flight Test \u2014 scheduled to launch later this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"
An instrumented flight test dummy, nicknamed Rosie after the iconic World War II character \u201cRosie the Riveter,\u201d remains in her seat inside the Starliner spacecraft after a two-day mission in Earth orbit. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boeing technicians are assembling a separate Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test. Located in an integration cell just a stone\u2019s throw away from the Starliner that just returned from space, the CFT capsule will carry Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA crewmates Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann to the space station.<\/p>\n

Boeing has produced two reusable human-rated spaceships \u2014 each designed for 10 missions \u2014 for flights to the space station under a $4.2 billion contract with NASA. The space agency has signed a similar $2.6 billion contract with SpaceX in 2014 for development of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, on which astronauts will fly new vehicles on each mission.<\/p>\n

The CFT mission with Ferguson\u2019s crew will pave the way for operational crew rotation flights to the station, the first of which will be commanded by NASA astronaut Suni Williams, a veteran of two long-duration space station expeditions. Williams is slated to launch and land on the same capsule that flew on last month\u2019s two-day demonstration mission.<\/p>\n

She named the spacecraft \u201cCalypso\u201d after its Dec. 22 landing in honor of the research vessel used by French explorer Jacques Cousteau.<\/p>\n

The planned Starliner flight sequence hinges on the outcome of an investigation into the cause of the software error that prevented the Calypso spacecraft from docking with the space station last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe independent team will inform NASA and Boeing on the root cause of the mission elapsed timer anomaly and any other software issues and provide corrective actions needed before flying crew to the International Space Station for the agency\u2019s Commercial Crew Program,\u201d wrote NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on the space agency\u2019s website Jan. 7.<\/p>\n

The investigation is expected to last about two months, according to Bridenstine.<\/p>\n

The NASA boss said agency officials are evaluating data from the Starliner\u2019s Orbital Flight Test to determine if another unpiloted demonstration flight is required before the capsule is cleared to launch with astronauts. A decision on that matter is not expected for several weeks, Bridenstine wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough docking was planned, it may not have to be accomplished prior to the crew demonstration,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBoeing would need NASA\u2019s approval to proceed with a flight test with astronauts on-board.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Starliner spacecraft is seen Jan. 15 inside Boeing\u2019s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A darkened streak from the heat of atmospheric re-entry is visible on the capsule\u2019s thermal blankets, and the ship\u2019s hatch is open. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the Starliner\u2019s landing Dec. 22, Boeing teams secured the spacecraft and transported it via truck from New Mexico back to the Kennedy Space Center, where it arrived Jan. 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, it\u2019s under assessment by \u2026 many of our experts,\u201d Sanchez said Wednesday. \u201cWe have got the hatch door open. We will take an assessment of the exterior of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to make sure the interior is flight-ready,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cIt\u2019s an awesome vehicle, well-built with safety and quality in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Starliner spacecraft includes two segments \u2014 a crew module and a service module \u2014 for the trip to the International Space Station. After departing the station and performing a braking burn to re-enter the atmosphere, the crew module jettisons the service module to burn up over the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

The crew module is fitted with an ablative base heat shield, thermal tiles, and protective blankets to withstand the scorching temperatures as hot as 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius) during re-entry. The capsule jettisons a forward heat shield at the start of its parachute deployment sequence, then releases the base heat shield to plunge to the ground, allowing airbags to inflate to soften the crew module\u2019s landing.<\/p>\n

That means each Starliner mission will fly with a new service module, and new forward and base heat shield elements. Teams will also have to re-pack parachutes and replace the mortars that fire to unfurl the chutes during descent, and an ascent fairing that covers the Starliner docking module will also come new with each mission, according to Sanchez.<\/p>\n

According to Reith, a manager on the Starliner engineering team, the reusable thermal blankets on the \u201cbackshell\u201d panels around the circumference of the Starliner spacecraft showed little sign of damage from the re-entry.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see on the front \u2014 the hot side or leading edge side of the vehicle where the tiles are \u2014 you see a little deposit there,\u201d Reith said. \u201cWe\u2019ll go through and clean that up,\u201d Reith said. \u201cThat should come right off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a dark diagonal stripe up the vehicle,\u201d Reith told reporters Wednesday. \u201cThere\u2019s a matching one on the other side. That\u2019s where the plasma flow is. It comes around the vehicle \u2026 So as it was picking up ablation off the base heat shield, it streaked up there and left that deposit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got high expectation that\u2019s going to come right off, so we\u2019ll be able to clean this vehicle up and get it to near factory-fresh (condition) again for its next mission\u201d Reith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the team is doing their external inspections,\u201d Reith said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had teams in looking at the top where the NASA docking system is. They\u2019ve done all their inspections looking at that, and also the thermal protection system team, they\u2019ve been looking at the blankets, the tiles we have.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they\u2019re done with their work, we\u2019ll go ahead and take the backshell panels off,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are the gray panels that enclose all of the equipment inside \u2026 Then we\u2019ll start doing our inspections on the inside. At the same time we\u2019ll be starting to take the cargo (that was to be delivered to the space station) off, Rosie will come off, and then we\u2019ll start our refurbishment of the inside of the vehicle getting ready for the next mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reith said Boeing teams will also remove the airbags from the bottom of the crew module to check for damage. The airbags are also designed to be reused on future flights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks really clean from a standpoint of the wear-and-tear it took coming through re-entry,\u201d Reith said. \u201cOur TPS (thermal protection system) team is really, really surprised. They expected more blanket wear, more deposits. They\u2019re really happy with the way the vehicle performed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boeing\u2019s first space-ready Starliner crew capsule, named Calypso, is back inside the company\u2019s assembly facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a two-day orbital test flight in December. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now While NASA and Boeing engineers investigate the cause of a software error that cut short the first orbital test […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[670,1407,524,291,1565,2267,1545,428],"class_list":["post-12719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-boeing","tag-calypso","tag-commercial-crew","tag-commercial-space","tag-cst-100","tag-cst-100-orbital-flight-test","tag-human-spaceflight","tag-kennedy-space-center"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}