Boeing will try to fly the Starliner down from the ISS next Friday

[thewayne]

The software has been updated for Boing to take full remote control of the vehicle and attempt to undock it and bring it back to Earth, where it will land at Space Harbor at White Sands Missile Range, about a hundred miles from my house, around six hours later. If all goes to plan.

One disappointing thing about it is that the thrusters that are the center point of the problem will be lost. Once the capsule is properly oriented for atmospheric reentry, they are part of an assembly that is ejected from the craft and they burn up in the atmosphere. We'll never know precisely what was wrong with those helium thrusters and we'll have to hope that engineers can duplicate the problem with ground-based units and testing.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/boeing-will-try-to-fly-its-troubled-starliner-capsule-back-to-earth-next-week/

White Sands is a tough place. It is the world's largest gypsum desert, pull it up in Google Earth, it's pretty cool. Once the Space Shuttle landed in California at Edwards and was being flown back to Florida and landed at White Sands to avoid a storm. And the gypsum just utterly trashed the 747 transporter's brakes! It was supposed to be there for a day or two while the storm abated, it was there for a couple of weeks while a crew was brought out to check out and service the plane! But it was a very scenic backdrop for photos while it was there.


The Dragon capsule that will be flying in late September with Crew 9 has had the final crew decided. The crew has been reduced from the normal four to two to accommodate the return of the two astronauts stranded by Boing. The capsule has been modified with additional seats behind the four crew seats.

One issue has been that of space suits. NASA standard space suits, such as those used for the travelers in the Starliner, are not compatible with the fittings in the Dragon. SpaceX has much more modern suits which are more comfortable and flexible/maneuverable for travel, whereas the NASA suits are better for EVA work if needed. There is one spare SpaceX suit on-hand on the ISS right now that will fix one of the two stranded astronauts, NASA has not revealed which. And Crew 9 will be bringing another suit, presumably for the other astronaut, so everyone will be properly suited for their return in February.

There is a second purpose for the seat reconfiguration of the Dragon capsule. The norm for the ISS is that there is always a Soyuz capsule docked to be used as an emergency life boat in case the station has to be abandoned in the event of an emergency: a fire, a debris collision that can't be avoided, etc. There have been a few times over the station's life where the crew have taken shelter in the capsule. This seat reconfiguration will allow the Dragon to serve as a lifeboat while docked. I have no idea if the Russians are planning a launch to coincide with the departure of the Dragon in February to fill its emergency role.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/08/nasa-makes-a-very-tough-decision-in-setting-final-crew-9-assignments/

Comments

[disneydream06]

Well, that sounds like a simple enough task.
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hugs, Jon

[madamoiselle_sambuca]

Oh my lord, how much longer will they have to be up there??

[thewayne]

February. There's more than enough supplies in the ISS that it isn't a problem from that angle.

[madamoiselle_sambuca]

That is scary, spending that much time in space?? 😱😱😱

[thewayne]

People have, in single stretches, spent more than six months in space.  It's doable.  They exercise for like 2 hours every day to try to maintain muscle mass and bone density.

[madamoiselle_sambuca]

Being an astronaut is not one of my favorite professions.

[moxie_man]

I wonder if they'll fill it with trash from the station before it undocks as they do with supply run ships.

[thewayne]

I doubt it. Normally when they deorbit Soyuz supply run ships, they are burned up in the atmosphere, incinerating the trash. This capsule, as far as I have read and remember, will not be incinerated, just the part that has the malfunctioning thrusters.

[moxie_man]

I'm figuring they'll fail to get it down safely, 'cause Boeing.

[thewayne]

I also seriously have my doubt.  But as long as they can safely decouple it and move it away and down from the station, I'm satisfied.  There's an old Microsoft joke: the first time that Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck it'll be a vacuum cleaner. ;)  I'm not sure how to adapt it for the space situation, but there must be some way.

[silveradept]

That's probably the best option for the Starliner, to go without damaging anything or endangering anyone, but that's got to put a serious crimp in everyone else's plans. I wonder if they have enough experimentation and science to do for the additional time the crew will be spending up in microgravity.