Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch because of valve issue on rocket

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARCIA DUNN
Updated 9:33 PM CDT, May 6, 2024

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing called off its first astronaut launch because of a valve problem on the rocket Monday night.

The two NASA test pilots had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted, just two hours before the planned liftoff. A United Launch Alliance engineer, Dillon Rice, said the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket.

There was no immediate word on when the team would try again to launch the test pilots to the International Space Station for a weeklong stay. It was the latest delay for Boeing’s first crew flight, on hold for years because of capsule trouble.

“In a situation like this, if we see any data signature is not something that we have seen before, then we are just simply not willing to take any chances with what is our most precious payload,” Rice said.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/boeing-starliner-launch-nasa-astronauts-8ffc8165f6d5b60033dbc314c1aeb7a8

[captain queeg]

1. Hmmm. Boeing is not having a good year.

[Emile]

2. Boeing to Houston, we have a problem.

[gfwzig]

3. just flew in a 787 Dreamliner ... all was OK ..... until I noticed the 3 inch fuselage distortion when it landed

[EX500rider]

8. I think you will be OK

The 787 started production in 2007, 1,123 built so far with zero fatalities and no hull losses to date.

[Wonder Why]

4. Did the relief valve fall off because they failed to attach the bolts? Just Asking.

[republianmushroom]

5. Where is the duct tape ?

[maxsolomon]

6. Good. Safety 1st.

Friggin' valves.

[tinrobot]

7. The problem was in the Atlas 5 rocket, not Boeing's spacecraft.

Not to be a Boeing apologist or anything, just setting the record straight.

Atlas 5 has a very good track record, the scrub of the mission is normal.

[SorellaLaBefana]

9. Don't have Good Feeling about this.

My understanding is that there has been only ONE *successful* uncrewed flight by this ship to the ISS.

...CFT [Crew Flight Test] follows two uncrewed flights by Starliner. A December 2019 mission, called Orbital Flight Test (OFT), did not reach the ISS as planned. Boeing spent several years implementing dozens of fixes to the spacecraft, amid the pandemic, and succeeded: a 2022 attempt (OFT 2) reached the ISS and met all other major flight objectives.

More trouble arose in summer 2023, however, when teams uncovered new issues with Starliner that further delayed human spaceflight. For example: the suspension lines of Starliner's main parachutes couldn't handle as much mass as engineers thought they could, and flammable P213 tape covered much of the capsule's wiring...

https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-delays-not-frustrating-1st-iss-launch

It may be Boeing, but I'd not be going until a couple of successful flights.


Above image is of one of Professor Langley's several failures to achieve heavier than air powered flight about 2 weeks before Wright's successful flight.

The image is from a 1933 US Naval Institute article discussing catapults and testing.

[GenThePerservering]

10. Don't worry...for Boeing,

when one door closes another falls off.