Joe Skipper/Reuters
Two astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner crew flight test stand on the pad of the United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket after technical issues delayed launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. .
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The world will have to wait at least another week for the long-awaited first crewed mission by Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.
The launch was scheduled for May 17 after an earlier delay, but the team discovered a small helium leak in the spacecraft's service module, according to a release from Boeing. The Starliner team discovered a leak in the thruster flange of a single reaction control system. This flange uses helium to enable thruster ignition.
“The team is currently targeting a launch date by Tuesday, May 21 at 4:43 PM EDT to complete additional testing,” the release states.
The mission, called Crew Flight Test, could be the last major milestone before NASA deems Boeing's spacecraft ready for routine operations as part of the federal agency's commercial crew program. be.
Both Boeing and NASA are developing tests and solutions to the leak, according to the release. Boeing plans to pressurize the propulsion system in-flight, which is reached just before liftoff, and allow the helium system to vent naturally.
Boeing said a review of data from the May 6 launch attempt revealed no other problems.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who are scheduled to spend a week aboard the International Space Station, were in pre-flight quarantine but returned on May 10 to spend time with their families during a pre-operational flight. The plane returned to Houston in 2018, Boeing said.
Williams and Wilmore will return to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida within the next few days, the release said.
The opportunity marks the culmination of Boeing's 10-year effort to develop a spacecraft suitable for transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASA's commercial program.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said at a press conference earlier this month that the launch marks only the sixth maiden voyage of a manned spacecraft in U.S. history.
“It started with Mercury, then Gemini, then Apollo, then the Space Shuttle, then (SpaceX) Dragon, and now Starliner,” he said.
Boeing designed Starliner to rival SpaceX's prolific Crew Dragon capsule and joins NASA's push to collaborate with private industry partners to become the U.S. option for transporting astronauts to the International Space Station. We plan to expand.
Williams will also make history as the first woman to participate in such a mission.
Development stalls, test flight problems, and other costly setbacks delayed Starliner's path to the launch pad. Meanwhile, SpaceX, Boeing's rival in NASA's commercial crew program, has become the space agency's go-to transportation for astronauts.
The launch was scheduled for May 6, but Williams and Wilmore were already in their seats in the Starliner capsule when engineers discovered a problem and canceled the launch.
The United Launch Alliance team, which manufactures the Atlas V rocket, identified a pressure regulating valve in the liquid oxygen tank that needed to be replaced. The valve was later replaced, but a new problem arose: a helium leak in the Boeing spacecraft at the top of the rocket. causing further delays.
If the spacecraft launches as planned next week, the spacecraft and the astronauts inside will separate from the Atlas V rocket and begin firing its own engines after reaching orbit. Starliner will probably make its way to the space station gradually over 24 hours.
Williams and Willmore will join the seven astronauts and cosmonauts already on board and spend about a week in the orbiting laboratory while Starliner is parked outside.
The pair will then return home aboard the same Starliner capsule and land by parachute at one of several designated locations in the southwestern United States.
