Boeing Starliner issue solved
Stuck rocket valves likely were caused by corrosion, firm says
Boeing has identified a “most probable cause” for why its spacecraft valves were stuck closed in August.
These valves, which prevented the company from launching its CST-100 Starliner capsule to the International Space Station, were likely closed because oxidizer had permeated the valves’ seals and interacted with moisture from the atmosphere, causing corrosion.
The company had previously said the valves in Starliner’s propulsion system were likely stuck closed due to corrosion caused by this interaction between the oxidizer (a component of the spacecraft’s propellant) and moisture. And while some verification work remains underway, a NASA blog post on Friday said confidence was high enough that Boeing and NASA were beginning corrective and preventative actions. Additional testing will be conducted in the coming weeks to further explore contributing factors and necessary system remediation before flight.
“I am proud of the work our integrated teams are doing,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, said in a statement. “This is a complex issue involving hazardous commodities and intricate areas of the spacecraft that are not easily accessed. It has taken a methodical approach and sound engineering to effectively examine.”
Boeing is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, where the companies (not NASA) own and operate capsules trusted to carry astronauts to the space station. NASA provided funding and expertise, and it buys seats as a customer, but the companies ultimately designed the space
craft.
The planned August launch would have been Boeing’s second attempt at sending an uncrewed Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. The first attempt launched in December 2019, but a software error prevented the uncrewed spacecraft from docking with the International Space Station. The second attempt was postponed prior to liftoff.
SpaceX is also part of the Commercial Crew program and is preparing to send its fourth batch of astronauts to the space station.
Boeing has managed to open all but one of the original 13 stuck valves. The one valve that’s closed has been left that way intentionally to preserve forensics for direct root cause analysis.
“Safety of the Starliner spacecraft, our employees, and our crew members is this team’s number one priority,” John Vollmer, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s Starliner program, said in a statement. “We are taking the appropriate amount of time to work through the process now to set this system up for success.”
The uncrewed Starliner spacecraft could launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the first half of 2022, pending scheduling and hardware readiness.