The Boeing“Interstellar” spacecraft, which was forced to remain on the International Space Station for three months due to a malfunction, finally landed in the White Sands Space Port area of New Mexico on September 7, the controversial first manned flight test of an interstellar passenger jet has come to an end. NASA said it was“Premature” to discuss when the spacecraft would be allowed to fly again. (CNN) — should NASA ultimately decide not to certify the spacecraft for manned flight, it would CNN Boeing’s already badly tarnished reputation and inflict huge economic losses on the company, it said.
NASA and Boeing personnel look at the landing of the“Interstellar airliner.”.
Good Landing
CNN said that although the“Interstellar airliner” has successfully landed in the scheduled area, but its future fate is still hanging in the balance. The spacecraft began its first manned flight test in June, successfully launching and carrying two American astronauts to the International Space Station. But a series of problems in the course of its flight could not be solved, and was finally judged by NASA as”Not suitable for sending astronauts back to Earth.” The two stranded US astronauts will return to Earth next February aboard SpaceX’s manned Dragon spacecraft, the“Interstellar passenger plane” completes the follow-up autonomous landing in the empty mode.
U. S. “Space” website said 7, the outside world is the most worried about the“Interstellar passenger aircraft” attitude control thrusters can safely be separated from the International Space Station. Five of the spacecraft’s 28 attitude control thrusters failed during the previous docking, a problem that has not been completely resolved. If a similar situation were to occur during the separation of the spacecraft from the International Space Station, it could lead to a space collision that could endanger the safety of the International Space Station. At the same time, the spacecraft did not have the ability to detach itself from the International Space Station and return to Earth at that time, requiring an urgent online update from Boeing, all this has raised concerns about whether the Starliner will be able to land on its own.
U. S. Eastern time at around 18:00 on the 6th, “Interstellar passenger plane” to initiate the separation process, docking device unlocked, the spacecraft slowly left the International Space Station. After about 90 seconds, the attitude-control thrusters fired several times to accelerate the ship away. The process is slightly different from that of a manned spacecraft, which typically stays near the international space station for longer periods of time, NASA said. After the interstellar jetliner was at a safe distance from the International Space Station, the spacecraft also conducted multiple tests of its attitude-controlled thrusters, accumulating more data for NASA and Boeing to find out what went wrong.
And then, on a six-hour return trip to Earth, the“Interstellar passenger plane” has completed the whole process of lowering orbit, separating the re-entry module from the Service Module, re-entering the atmosphere, releasing the parachute and finally landing in the predetermined landing area.
Starliner releases parachute.
Stiker, head of NASA’s commercial crew program, stressed at a post-landing press conference on Thursday that the test flight of the interstellar passenger jet “Also has many positive aspects.”, for example, in the process of autonomous return and landing“Very good performance,” the white sand space port landing can be called“A hit.”. He said Boeing had achieved 85-90 per cent of its target for the test mission, despite the problems it had uncovered.
The“Cooling” of the thrusters became a top priority
According to the space website, the first real commercial manned flight was scheduled for August 2025 after the test mission, but that plan is now clearly being postponed. Stiker said it was too early to say whether an “Interstellar passenger jet” would be allowed to fly again next year with astronauts. He said NASA needed time to analyse the data and assess what changes needed to be made to the design and flight of the interstellar airliner. “I think we will see new developments in a month or so and have a clearer picture of the overall timetable.”
According to previous reports, the known problems in the manned flight test included multiple helium leaks, an improperly closed propeller valve and a faulty attitude control propeller, the spacecraft missed docking with the International Space Station, and the astronauts were forced to switch to manual mode to successfully complete the docking. Stiker has previously said it is complicated to identify the cause of the failure “Because the helium leak is intertwined with the propeller problem”. Because the malfunctioning equipment is located in the spacecraft’s service module, which separates on landing and burns up in the atmosphere, it is difficult for NASA and Boeing to pinpoint the exact fault.
NASA said the problems could be related to an overheating environment, including the high frequency of attitude-controlled thrusters and their improper placement. The thrusters are said to be concentrated in four protective structures called doghouses around the ship’s service module, and ground tests have shown that the heat released by the thrusters during ignition is concentrated as in a thermos cup, this causes the seals to expand, limiting the flow of propellant and causing helium to leak out, and causing the thrusters to shut down automatically due to overheating. Stich said NASA and Boeing will next focus most of their attention on the problem of attitude-controlled thrusters overheating and ways to mitigate it. “What we need to do now is actually test the thrusters at the White Sands test site in New Mexico, make sure we know the exact firing sequence that causes overheating, and then figure out how to reduce the firing frequency of the thrusters,” he added, the engineering team will also study how to modify the insulation of the doghouse to help cool the thrusters.
But if those improvements don’t work out, analysts say, Boeing will need to rework its entire spacecraft design and reapply for additional manned flight tests, this will cost a lot of time and money.
The future is uncertain
The BBC noted that only NASA officials were present at the press conference after the Starliner landed on July 7, and that two Boeing representatives who were supposed to be present were absent. Asked about the absence of Boeing representatives, NASA officials said the company had decided to leave it to NASA to Plenipotentiary. Boeing said in a specially issued statement that, “Recognizing the work of the Starliner team to ensure the successful and safe docking, derailment, re-entry and landing of the spacecraft, Boeing will review the data and determine the next steps in the program.”. NASA officials have previously acknowledged“Tensions” between Boeing and NASA over the decision not to allow astronauts to return to Earth aboard the interstellar airliner: Boeing has always maintained that, nASA is“Concerned” that the spacecraft could safely return two American astronauts to Earth.
The Woes of the first manned test flight of an interstellar passenger jet have undoubtedly dealt a serious blow to Boeing, which has suffered from a series of recent accidents involving commercial airliners and two fatal accidents a few years ago, CNN said, it has suffered huge reputational and financial losses. NASA had planned to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s manned Dragon spacecraft and Boeing’s interstellar passenger jet. So far, the manned Dragon spacecraft has carried out nine manned flights and some commercial missions for NASA, while the two previous unmanned test flights of the interstellar passenger jet have revealed many problems, boeing has lost more than $1 billion on the project. With the International Space Station due to be retired by 2030, further delays in testing of the interstellar airliner will render it useless for future service.
For now, NASA is insisting on“Not putting all your eggs in one basket,” and wants to make sure there are two different types of spacecraft in service in case one model fails without a replacement. NASA Administrator’s Bill Nelson made it clear that “It is 100% certain that the interstellar passenger jet will fly again with astronauts.”