Current:Home > NewsBoeing Starliner launch delayed to at least May 17 for Atlas 5 rocket repair -GlobalInvest
Boeing Starliner launch delayed to at least May 17 for Atlas 5 rocket repair
View
Date:2025-04-14 01:14:06
After analyzing data following a launch scrub Monday, United Launch Alliance managers decided to haul the Atlas 5 rocket carrying Boeing's Starliner astronaut ferry ship back to its processing facility to replace a suspect valve, delaying another launch try to at least May 17, NASA said in a blog post Tuesday.
The new "no-earlier-than" launch target from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station — 6:16 p.m. EDT a week from Friday — will give engineers more time to carry out the valve repair while setting up a rendezvous with the International Space Station that fits into the U.S. Eastern Range launch schedule, which coordinates all rocket flights from the East Coast.
The Starliner, Boeing's long-delayed answer to SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, was grounded Monday just two hours before its planned launch on its first piloted test flight to the space station. On board were NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
The culprit: a pressure relief valve in the rocket's Centaur upper stage liquid oxygen plumbing that failed to seat properly during the final stages of propellant loading. The valve repeatedly "chattered" as it attempted to seal, rapidly opening and closing so fast engineers at the launch pad reported an audible hum.
ULA engineers could have carried out a procedure to force the valve in place and likely would have done so for a normal satellite launch. But conservative flight rules in place for the Starliner flight ruled out any changes to the "fueled state" of the rocket while the astronauts were on board. As a result, the launch was scrubbed.
The valve in question was designed to "self regulate," opening and closing as needed to bleed off gaseous oxygen buildups in the Centaur's liquid oxygen tank. It was certified for 200,000 open-close cycles.
"The oscillating behavior of the valve during prelaunch operations ultimately resulted in mission teams calling a launch scrub on May 6," NASA said in a blog post. "After the ground and flight crew safely egressed from Space Launch Complex-41, the ULA team successfully commanded the valve closed and the oscillations were temporarily dampened.
"The oscillations then re-occurred twice during fuel removal operations. After evaluating the valve history, data signatures from the launch attempt and assessing the risks relative to continued use, the ULA team determined the valve exceeded its qualification and mission managers agreed to remove and replace the valve."
The ULA team plans to haul the Atlas 5 and its mobile launch platform back to the nearby Vertical Integration Facility on Wednesday. After the valve is replaced and tested, the rocket will be moved back to the pad for normal pre-launch preparations.
In the wake of the space shuttle's retirement, NASA funded development of two independently designed, built and operated crew transport craft, awarding a $4.2 billion contract to Boeing for its Starliner and a $2.6 billion contract to SpaceX for the company's Crew Dragon ferry ship.
The Starliner is years behind schedule after a series of technical problems that have cost Boeing more than $1 billion to correct. In the meantime, SpaceX's Crew Dragon has carried 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 flights, 12 of them to the space station.
While Boeing has been under intense scrutiny in recent months because of problems with its 737 airliners, the Starliner program, while behind schedule, is a separate operation. The launch delay was not the result of any problem with Boeing hardware.
- In:
- Spacewalk
- International Space Station
- Space
- NASA
Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News.
TwitterveryGood! (4689)
Related
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- ICE could release thousands of migrants without more funding from Congress, official says
- Suspect killed by police after stabbings at Virginia training center leaves 1 man dead, another injured
- Proposed TikTok ban for kids fails in Virginia’s Legislature
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- 49ers guard Jon Feliciano gets into nasty social media arguments after Super Bowl loss
- Man arrested in Canada after bodies of 3 children found burned in car, 2 women found dead in different locations
- Minnesota teacher of 'vulnerable students' accused of having sex with student
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- Love Is Blind Season 6: What AD Thinks of Her Connection With Matthew After Dramatic Confrontation
Ranking
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Kansas City parade shooting shows gun violence danger lurks wherever people gather in US
- Man fired from upstate New York hospital pulled over with loaded shotgun near facility
- NYC trial scrutinizing lavish NRA spending under Wayne LaPierre nears a close
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Sabrina Carpenter and Saltburn Actor Barry Keoghan Confirm Romance With Date Night Pics
- Geraldo Rivera takes new TV role with NewsNation after departure from Fox News
- Journalists turn to picket lines as the news business ails
Recommendation
Why Sean "Diddy" Combs Is Being Given a Laptop in Jail Amid Witness Intimidation Fears
Denver motel owner housing and feeding migrants for free as long as she can
Alyssa Milano slammed for attending Super Bowl after asking for donations for son's baseball team
Retail sales fall 0.8% in January from December as shoppers pause after strong holiday season
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
The Daily Money: Expect a smaller Social Security bump in 2025
Environmental groups sue to force government to finalize ship speed rules that protect rare whales
Phoenix attorney appointed to Arizona Legislature; will fill vacant seat through November election