"Prisoners in Space" No Way to Return to Earth After Starliner Crashes
Boeing's Starliner test vehicle hadn't even launched into space before it broke down on arrival at the International Space Station, and it appears to have broken down for good.
Two brave astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, became prisoners on the International Space Station after arriving at the space station aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, which had been delayed several times before launching on June 5. However, on the way, the spacecraft began to break apart. It took a huge effort to finally dock safely with the space station in Earth's orbit.
According to its schedule, the crew was supposed to stay on the International Space Station for about a week, then return to Earth in the same vehicle, but now they have nothing to return with, while Boeing searches for the cause of the crash.
Starliner return postponed indefinitely
NASA is considering bringing a capsule from Elon Musk to evacuate the crew from the station. The Americans may ask Russia for help.
The manned space flight was planned to be followed by an unmanned one, but everyone understood that this was crazy. However, NASA and Boeing managed to raise the millions of dollars needed to make the flight happen, but other difficulties arose, as successive problems were found on board the vehicle. Eventually, it was launched in 2022, and this time it docked with the International Space Station. Things seemed to be going well, despite the failure of some systems.
Finally they were ready to launch the astronauts, but on May 6, two hours before launch, the launch was canceled. This was repeated on May 17, June 1, June 2, and finally the spacecraft launched on June 5.
So why were they delaying the launch? - First, the astronauts heard that the oxygen valve in the Atlas rocket's fuel system was vibrating, and there was already a story with this valve. It was developed by ValveTech, a long-time partner of Boeing and NASA, but NASA decided to save money. After looking at the drawings of the valves, NASA dismissed ValveTech and asked another unknown party to produce the valves. ValveTech wrote to NASA stating that flying with "gray" parts was dangerous, and at the same time filed a lawsuit for intellectual property theft and lost. When we read that the Starliner lost its bearings, it means that the cause was the ill-fated "gray" valves.
But then it was discovered that there was a helium leak from the spacecraft itself. Helium is a gas necessary for orientation in space and adjusting the trajectory. After examining the source of the leak, the specialists made a strange decision not to repair anything and leave everything as it was. They said that "the hole is small and will not affect the flight." However, during the flight, the Starliner lost control again. Problems began with the jet control system engines. The first attempt to dock failed, and the spacecraft did not respond. A total of five engines failed, while they managed to fix four. Thus, without a single engine, the spacecraft docked with the station.
There were some errors in other systems. In fact, this is a test flight aimed at revealing all the shortcomings in real space conditions. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them. Now, by extending the flight, they are trying to find out the reasons. Work is underway to find solutions that will allow the vehicle to be used in the future.
Now the media are saying that the astronauts are "stuck", but experts are trying not to make a fuss about this issue. Both NASA and Boeing have officially announced that they have recruited astronauts to solve the outstanding problems, but they unofficially admit that the picture is somewhat more serious. It seems that they will not risk returning the astronauts on the same vehicle on which they arrived. They want to involve Elon Musk's Dragon capsule, but what about the Starliner? It is not unlikely that Boeing will lose this expensive game, as experts predict a tragic end for this vehicle.
The manned space flight was scheduled to last only about 8 days, but current procedures forced officials to make the necessary delay. Mark Nabi, the general manager of the Starliner program, denied that the spacecraft and its crew were stuck as rumored, stressing that there was no danger to them.
Prospects and aspirations for competing with Cybex
The latest technical problem is not the first episode of problems that have plagued the Starliner program. Officials have faced a series of problems at several levels, including software, design, and administrative problems with contractors responsible for supplying some of the parts. This has led to the project’s costs exceeding $1.5 billion out of a $4.5 billion deal the company signed with NASA in 2014.
Despite these ongoing setbacks, NASA remains committed to making Starliner an ideal spacecraft capable of completing space missions alongside SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, which has also successfully entered the field of human spaceflight since 2020.
Source: Komsomolskaya Pravda