The Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule, designed to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, won’t fly until the first half of next year as the manufacturing giant continues to address issues with the spacecraft’s valves.
Things didn’t go smoothly at Boeing. The Starliner program has experienced many setbacks and delays. The second unmanned test flight took place only in August deleted after 13 of the 24 valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system were blocked. In the briefing This week, Michelle Parker, Boeing’s chief aerospace and take-off engineer, described more of the faulty components.
Boeing believes the valve failed due to weather problems, we were told. Florida, home of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, where the Starliner was assembled and tested, is known for its hot and humid summers. Parker explains that chemicals from the spacecraft’s oxidizing agents react with condensation of water in the valves to form nitric acid. The acid damages the valve and makes it stick.
Engineers managed to free nine of the 13 faulty valves, but four got stuck. The capsules have been returned to the factory and two valves have been removed and given to NASA for further analysis, with a third on the way. Boeing will not resume flight tests of the CST-100 Starliner module until the first half of next year.
