After the Starliner launch was cleared on Monday night, officials announced a new target date for the crewed mission. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Boeing crewed flight test is now on target for a launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. on May 17. Monday’s cleanup occurred about two hours before launch time, and officials cited the cause as a mechanical problem involving “a liquid oxygen self-regulating solenoid relief valve on the Centaur upper stage.” After a thorough review of the data Tuesday, United Launch Alliance decided to replace a pressure control valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage. To make that replacement, ULA will have to move the rocket with the Starliner spacecraft of Boeing back to its Vertical Integration Facility at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. According to ULA, that return will begin on Wednesday. The ULA team says it will also perform leak checks and functional checks to support the next launch attempt. According to officials, the “oscillating” behavior of the valve during pre-launch operations caused the abrasion. Although the vehicle is reliable, officials say launch parameters are different because there are humans on board. “I think if there was a satellite on board that rocket, it could be in orbit right now.” But there’s no reason to make bad choices and risk anything during a test flight that involves some level of risk,” explained Dr. Don Platt of Florida Tech. While a valve may seem small on a large rocket system that costs billions to develop, it’s critical to mission safety that it works properly, according to Platt. “It’s probably several thousand dollars. The problem with this valve is that it ensures that the oxygen tank does not build up so much pressure that the tank can burst. The last thing you want is for an oxygen tank to burst mid-flight,” Platt said. “It’s good that they’ve isolated it to that particular valve and they know what’s wrong and they can just go back to the hanger if you want and fix it.” Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams — who will be the first people who had launched aboard the Starliner—were already dressed in Boeing pressure suits and almost finished the process of securing their seats when the cleanup was announced. Now, they will remain in quarantine at crew headquarters at NASA until a new launch opportunity on May 17. The purpose of this mission is to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems, including maneuvering and docking, before NASA can certify the spacecraft for rotational missions.
After the Starliner launch was cleared on Monday night, officials announced a new target date for the crewed mission.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is now targeted for launch no earlier than 6:16 p.m. on May 17.
Monday’s cleanup occurred about two hours before launch time, and officials cited the cause as a mechanical problem involving “a self-regulating liquid oxygen solenoid valve on top of the Centaur.”
After a thorough review of the data Tuesday, United Launch Alliance decided to replace a pressure control valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket.
To make this replacement, ULA will need to move the rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft back to its Vertical Integration Facility at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. According to ULA, that return will begin on Wednesday.
The ULA team says it will also perform leak checks and functional checks to support the next launch attempt.
According to officials, the “oscillating” behavior of the valve during pre-launch operations caused the abrasion.
Although the vehicle is reliable, officials say launch parameters are different because there are people on board.
“I think if there was a satellite on board that rocket, it could be in orbit right now.” But there’s no reason to make bad choices and risk something during a test flight that carries some level of risk,” explained Dr. Don Platt of Florida Tech.
While a valve may seem small on a large rocket system that cost billions to develop, Platt says it’s critical to mission safety that it works properly.
“It’s probably several thousand dollars. The problem with this valve is that it ensures that the oxygen tank does not build up so much pressure that the tank can burst. The last thing you want is for an oxygen tank to burst mid-flight,” Platt said. “It’s good that they’ve isolated it to that particular valve and they know what’s wrong and they can just go back to the hanger if you want and fix it.”
Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams — who will be the first people to launch aboard the Starliner — were already in Boeing spacesuits and had just completed the process of securing their seats when the cleanup was announced.
They will now remain in quarantine at NASA’s crew headquarters until a new launch opportunity on May 17.
The purpose of this mission is to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems, including maneuvering and docking, before NASA can certify the spacecraft for rotational missions.
