Why Was Starliner's First Crewed Launch Scrubbed Again?

earlier this morning Boeing Starliner spacecraft was sat a top in Atlas 5 and ready to launch unfortunately with around 4 minutes left in the count the vehicle went into an automatic hold that eventually scrubbed the flight this was the second attempt with the last one being scrubbed early last month on the 6th so far we received reports that the scrub had to do with a ground controller initially halting the countdown related to issues with it not loading in the correct operational configuration well that was the reason for the scrub there were a few other issues leading up to that point as well here I'll go more in depth into what happened the next launch attempt final mission prep and [Music] more with less than 2 hours left in the count both astronauts Butch Wilmore and sunny Williams were strapped into the spacecraft soon after a few issues began to arise initially two valves associated with repellent loading ground support systems were experiencing an apparent Communications issue with launch control these valves are responsible for topping off propellant in the liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks in the atlas centur second stage specific specifically the issue had to do with the atlas 5 but was fixed soon after as Engineers determined the issue was the primary Telemetry stream not the actual valves they ended up switching the valve data stream to a redundant system and the clock continued with around 30 minutes left till launch Crews began leaving the Launchpad after closing Starliner hatch and moving its crew access arm the weather forecast at the time was also a promising 90% go for launch with around 20 minutes left UA Flight controllers reported an errant temperature sensor reading in a sensor that they highlighted was not necessary for launch given the count with that had in mind they decided to deactivate it a bit earlier than planned there was also a small problem related to the astronaut space suits with around 10 minutes left before the expected launch the safety Commander Butch Wilmore reported a suit fan warning light a few minutes later they were working again despite all these different minor complications the flight was still AO and had just minutes left on the clock that was until tus 3 minutes and 50 seconds when the flight controller called a hold in this case there's a computer that launches the rocket when the vehicle goes into terminal count also called the GLS or ground launch sequencer some with the GLS caused it to throw an automatic hold out at tus 3 minutes and 50 seconds in a NASA statement they clarified by saying that the computer ground launch sequencer was not loading the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count NASA held a press conference a few hours after the attempt and here Ula CEO Tory Bruno clarified that they have three computers that create redundancy for certain final launch operations one of these operations include the pyros for releasing the bolts that hold the rocket to the pad for that system they require all three systems to be running he was quoted saying each of those racks do a health check and they monitor to see those cards came up when they were commanded to come up and begin doing their job two came up normally the third one came up but it was slow to come up and that tripped a red line that created an automated hold he said this issue was enough to scrub today's attempt due to the plan timeline the launch window for Starliner this morning was instantaneous meaning there were no plans for backup opportunities that same day in other words once the hold was triggered in the count the launch was basically immediately scrubbed for the day no matter its severity thankfully for boing in NASA the issue doesn't seem to be too significant already they've expressed an interest in attempting the launch again tomorrow morning on the 2nd they first have to get access to that computer and determine why the issue occurred they said they should be able to do that by late this afternoon by then they will know if the issue is a quick fix for a launch tomorrow or if it will take a few days as far as the leak that was found after the last launch attempt in May it didn't create any issues with this morning's attempt controllers reported that the leak rate was acceptable and had even decreased from past numbers in the Press Conference held earlier today Steve S commented that the leak had about haved in leak rate for context a small helium leak was found related to the spacecraft's RCs thrusters however Boeing and NASA determined that it was acceptable and could be left as is for the launch besides tomorrow June 2nd there are a few other opportunities within the coming days the three backup dates include June 2nd June 5th and June 6th this means if they aren't able to get the rocket and spacecraft ready by tomorrow morning they'll have a few days to fix any remaining issues and get the vehicles back on the pad or this month that being said it puts a lot of extra pressure to ensure this launch happens by June 6th at the latest with this being the last backup opportunity a delay Pass State could create some significant schedule issues something boing and the Starliner spacecraft need to avoid considering their history yesterday Steve SSH the NASA commercial crew program manager mentioned that Ula would need time to replace batteries on the vehicle if it didn't launch by June 6th this process would involve rolling it off the pad and working on it they highlighted that this process would take about 10 days it's important to point out that this mission is still considered an orbital flight test which the spacecraft has completed before however this time with two humans aboard in particular assuming complete mission success this is the final test necessary in order for Boeing to certify the vehicle and begin routine flights to the International Space Station NASA officials have said that Boeing needs to complete the certification by November or December to allow the start of operational missions to the ISS the first of those missions named Starliner 1 is already set to happen in early 2025 by now around 80% of the certification is complete with the last aspect relying on the launch and how it performs with this a specific flight profile has been created to test both the human and the spacecraft aspects of Starliner this is Boeing's second flight to the International Space Station and third Starliner flight test overall following a second orbital flight test the uncrewed mission also known as of2 in May 2022 when the vehicle does eventually launch from space launch complex 41 and separated from ula's Atlas 5 rocket starlander will perform an engine burn to place the spacecraft and its crew into orbit for an approximately 24-hour Journey to the space station during the flight the spacecraft its crew will perform several flight test objectives supporting the certification ahead of regular rotation missions for Starliner the first test is to demonstrate performance of crew equipment from pre-launch through Ascent including suit and seat performance during approach rendevu and docking with the station the Starliner team will assess spacecraft Thruster performance for manual abort scenarios conduct communication checkouts test manual and automated navigation and evaluate life support systems crew aboard the station will monitor the spacecraft's approach and the Starliner crew would command any necessary abort s from there Starliner will autonomously dock to the forward- facing Port of the harmony module the test objective is to perform hatch opening and closing operations configure the spacecraft for its time dock to the station and transfer Emergency Equipment into the station during its stay the crew will evaluate the spacecraft its displays and cargo transfer systems Wilmore and Williams will go inside Starliner close the hatch and demonstrate the spacecraft can perform as a safe haven in the case one is needed in the future they point out that Wilmore and Williams will live and work alongside the Expedition 7 1 Crew for about a week before boarding Starliner for return to Earth after undocking the next flight test objective will assess manual piloting of Starliner before switching back to autonomous operations the crew will spend approximately 6 hours in the spacecraft from undocking until its first landing opportunity after touchdown the creu board Starliner was responsible for jet ascending the parachutes initiating spacecraft power down and conducting a satellite phone call with the mission control landing and Recovery teams the landing and Recovery team will use sensors to check for lingering hypergolic propellant traces and electrically ground the command module before other team members approach recovery Crews will raise a tin around the Starliner and pump cool air into the spacecraft when Star liner's hatch is opened with less than 1 hour having passed since Landing the astronauts will move to the medical vehicle for initial health checks at that point a ground team will begin an early cargo transfer removing experiments from the spacecraft to transport to NASA facilities following a landing and successful recovery NASA will complete work to certify the spacecraft as an operational Cruise system for long duration rotation missions to the space station beginning with NASA's boing Starliner 1 unfortunately it was another scrub this morning for Starliner attempt to launch crew for the first time this scrub had to do with the ground launch sequencer not loading the correct operational configuration proceeding in terminal count we will have to wait and see how it progresses and the impact it has on the space industry thank you very much for watching

Channel: TheSpaceBucket

Views: 78,048

Keywords:

Id: 69iBqDKzRSM

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2024