Boeing’s problems in the commercial aviation sector – among the real ones, the invented ones and the “mysteries” of the deaths of some former employees – have nothing to do with what is happening to the Crew Space Transportation (Cst)-100 Starliner vehicle rocket , whose launch has been postponed to May 10 (barring complications) due to a technical problem.
Starliner was due to launch on Monday evening (May 6) for the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission lasting approximately ten days. This involves the transport of two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and then return. Being a “Test”, it serves to validate the procedures and methods of conduct of the new space vehicle, therefore, it has particular importance for the future. During the final checks before the “Go-flight”, approximately two hours before launch, the technical teams identified a faulty oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the flight of the rocket, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V (Ula ). This valve was noisy and opened and closed rapidly without control, producing the alarm signal. At that point NASA, Ula and Boeing had initially expressed optimism that the problem could be resolved quickly, perhaps even in time for another launch attempt yesterday evening (Tuesday 7 May), but although the technical intervention was carried out working continuously, yesterday evening it was announced that take-off cannot take place before Friday 17 May.
With an update on official media channels, NASA announced: “The delay allows technicians to complete analysis of data on a pressure regulating valve on the liquid oxygen tank of the upper stage of the Centaur Atlas V rocket and to determine whether whether or not it will be necessary to replace this valve.” This means, in practice, that at the moment it is not possible to know whether the Starliner will be able to fly on Friday or Saturday, also because the replacement of the component could not be carried out by leaving the rocket on the launch pad, but would have to be returned to the assembly facility. To avoid this option, which would cause a weeks-long delay, engineers are creating special equipment and a procedure that allows the Atlas to be left on the ramp, the valve removed after depressuring the fuel system, and then a new one installed. The crew members of the CFT (the capsule) are astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have obviously disembarked to return to their quarters at the Kennedy Space Center.
The Starliner is Boeing’s competitor to the Crew dragon produced by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which however has already been widely used. Both spacecraft can carry up to seven astronauts or a mix of crew and cargo, with the aim of being the new way to provide transport to the ISS after the Space Shuttle had been retired and the Americans had to resort to renting the Russian Soyuz. The story, once again, demonstrates how in the space sector it is necessary to continuously maintain and develop both new technologies and knowledge. After the withdrawal of the Shuttles, NASA’s restart was late to the advantage of Elon Musk’s newly formed SpaceX, which as a private and streamlined company had a free hand in recruiting the best technicians. According to Boeing, its Starliner capsule, although more expensive, can be used up to ten times, with a recommissioning time of six months between missions. The capsule’s co-pilot, astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams, named this capsule Calypso in homage to her love of the ocean and exploration, in honor of the Frenchman Jacque Cousteau’s oceanographic vessel (1910 – 1997), twentieth-century scholar and explorer. That ship is remembered for its underwater observation chamber and for having been equipped with a helicopter and a submarine useful in scientific expeditions.
