{"id":783479,"date":"2024-06-05T03:53:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T08:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=783479"},"modified":"2024-06-05T03:53:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T08:53:56","slug":"take-three-for-boeing-starliner-crewed-launch-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=783479","title":{"rendered":"Take three for Boeing Starliner crewed launch attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2024\/liftoff-is-targeting-f.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2024\/liftoff-is-targeting-f.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Liftoff is targeting for 10:52 am (1452 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for about a one week stay at the orbital laboratory.\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Liftoff is targeting for 10:52 am (1452 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for about a one week stay at the orbital laboratory.<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Boeing will be hoping the third time&#8217;s a charm on Wednesday as they try once more to launch astronauts aboard a Starliner capsule bound for the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<section class=\"article-banner first-banner ads-336x280\">\n         <!-- \/4988204\/Phys_Story_InText_Box --><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p>Liftoff is targeted for 10:52 am (1452 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, for a roughly one-week stay at the orbital laboratory.<\/p>\n<p>The last attempt, on Saturday, was dramatically aborted with less than four minutes left of the countdown as the ground launch computer went into an automatic hold.<\/p>\n<p>The problem was later traced to a faulty power supply source connected to the computer, with the malfunctioning unit since replaced.<\/p>\n<p>And a buzzy valve on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket scuppered a previous attempt on May 6, a few hours before launch.<\/p>\n<p>In both cases, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were strapped in and ready to go, only to be forced to return to strict quarantine in their quarters.<\/p>\n<p>The Starliner program has already been beset by years of safety scares and delays, and a successful mission would offer Boeing a much-needed reprieve from the intense safety concerns surrounding its passenger jets.<\/p>\n<p>NASA meanwhile is looking to certify Boeing as a second commercial operator to ferry crews to the ISS\u2014something Elon Musk&#8217;s SpaceX has already been doing for the US space agency for four years.<\/p>\n<h2>Embarrassing setbacks<\/h2>\n<p>Both companies received multibillion-dollar contracts in 2014 to develop their crew capsules, following the end of the Space Shuttle program that left the US temporarily reliant on Russian rockets for rides.<\/p>\n<p>Boeing, with its 100-year history, was heavily favored, but its program fell badly behind.<\/p>\n<p>Setbacks ranged from a software bug that put the spaceship on a bad trajectory on its first uncrewed test, to the discovery that the cabin was filled with flammable electrical tape after the second.<\/p>\n<p>While teams worked to replace the faulty rocket valve that postponed the previous launch attempt, a small helium leak located in one of Starliner&#8217;s thrusters came to light.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than replace the seal, which would require taking the spaceship apart in its factory, NASA and Boeing officials declared it safe enough to fly as is.<\/p>\n<p>When they do fly, Wilmore and Williams will be charged with putting Starliner through the wringer, including taking manual control of the spacecraft on its way to the ISS.<\/p>\n<p>During their stay on the research platform, the crew will carry out more tests, including simulating whether the ship can be used as a safe haven in the event of problems on the orbital outpost.<\/p>\n<p>After undocking, Starliner will re-enter the atmosphere and carry out a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the western United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-main__note mt-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  \u00a9 2024 AFP\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTake three for Boeing Starliner crewed launch attempt (2024, June 5)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 5 June 2024<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2024-06-boeing-starliner-crewed.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liftoff is targeting for 10:52 am (1452 GMT) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida for about a one week stay at the orbital laboratory. Boeing will be&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":783480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-phys-org"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=783479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/783480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=783479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=783479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=783479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}