Boeing Starliner Test Flight Scrubbed Again Following System Anomaly
Boeing is a long-time government contractor that has had a hand in some of the most important space exploration missions in human history. That includes, but is not limited to, the Apollo lunar rover, numerous International Space Station modules, and the Saturn V rocket. With all that experience, you’d think Boeing would have a good handle on the CST-100 Starliner, but it just can’t catch a break. The company has announced yet another launch cancellation, this time thanks to a faulty fuel valve.
The Starliner was scheduled to launch today (August 3rd) at 1:20 PM ET. However, engineers inspecting the vessel prior to the big moment detected “unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system.” The mission, which was set to be Boeing’s long-awaited demo do-over, was scrubbed out of an abundance of caution.
Boeing has encountered problem after problem as it attempts to get the Starliner off the ground, both literally and figuratively. For most of the Commercial Crew Program, Boeing was running neck and neck with SpaceX, but Elon Musk’s aerospace firm started to pull ahead almost exactly three years ago when Boeing found a leak in the vessel’s fuel lines. That delayed the first uncrewed demo flight, allowing SpaceX to get into orbit first. Starliner experienced a series of delays after that, pushing the launch to late 2019.
We're standing down from today's #Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 launch.
During pre-launch preparations, our engineers detected unexpected valve position indications in the propulsion system.
Read the full statement: https://t.co/uQBjvq8ObU pic.twitter.com/4X2INbZj7Q
— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) August 3, 2021
Boeing still has not successfully completed the 2019 demo flight (Boe-OFT). A system failure caused the capsule to miss its rendezvous with the ISS, and NASA eventually insisted on a successful test (OFT-2) before it would allow crewed flights. The pandemic slowed progress on the do-over as well. Boeing wanted to launch several days ago, but a glitch in the station’s new Russian module prevented that, and now there’s another fuel system issue.
It is possible Boeing will be able to schedule a new launch for tomorrow (August 4th), indicating the problem relates to instrumentation rather than a real problem with the hardware. Boeing will have to complete a crewed demo after this, once the Starliner can successfully launch atop its Atlas V rocket, dock at the station, and then return to Earth. At that point, Boeing will be caught up to SpaceX, which has been flying astronauts to and from the ISS for months. If the company can get the capsule fully tested this year, the first official crewed mission (Starliner-1) could happen as soon as Q2 2022.
Continue reading
Ryzen 9 5950X and 5900X Review: AMD Unleashes Zen 3 Against Intel’s Last Performance Bastions
AMD continues its onslaught on what was once Intel's undisputed turf.
Seagate Announces Its Own RISC-V Cores for Future Storage Controllers
To hit its 50TB per-drive target over the next few years, Seagate decided it needed a custom storage controller. RISC-V offered a solution.
Qualcomm Revamps Snapdragon 865 Again, Calls It Snapdragon 870
Qualcomm just unveiled a new high-end 800-series ARM processor, and I know what you're thinking. Didn't Qualcomm already announce its 2021 flagship system-on-a-chip (SoC)? It did, but the new Snapdragon 870 will slot in below the flagship Snapdragon 888.
Apple Warns Customers Against Using the iPhone 12 Near a Pacemaker
If you own an Apple iPhone 12 and have a pacemaker or other implanted medical device, you should be careful with how you hold it — but these restrictions apply to more than just the iPhone 12.