FILE – Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket is seen at Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station a day after its mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed because of an issue with a pressure regulation valve, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June. Officials for the company and NASA said Friday, May 24, that weeks of review show that the capsule can safely fly with two test pilots, despite a small propulsion system leak.(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June, after spending the past few weeks struggling with more problems on the space capsule.Officials for the company and NASA said Friday that intensive reviews indicate the Starliner capsule can safely fly with two test pilots, despite a small propulsion system leak. The helium leak was discovered following the first launch attempt on May 6 that was scuttled by an unrelated rocket problem that has been fixed.Engineers suspect a defective seal that, even if the leak worsens, could be managed in flight. Boeing is targeting June 1 for the launch from Florida.Identification of the leak led to the discovery of a “design vulnerability” in Starliner’s propulsion system in the unlikely event of a string of failures, said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. The team has developed workaround methods to get the capsule safely out of orbit at flight’s end if such problems arise, he added.“We’re …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnFILE – Boeing’s Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket is seen at Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station a day after its mission to the International Space Station was scrubbed because of an issue with a pressure regulation valve, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June. Officials for the company and NASA said Friday, May 24, that weeks of review show that the capsule can safely fly with two test pilots, despite a small propulsion system leak.(AP Photo/John Raoux, File)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing is now aiming for its first astronaut launch at the beginning of June, after spending the past few weeks struggling with more problems on the space capsule.Officials for the company and NASA said Friday that intensive reviews indicate the Starliner capsule can safely fly with two test pilots, despite a small propulsion system leak. The helium leak was discovered following the first launch attempt on May 6 that was scuttled by an unrelated rocket problem that has been fixed.Engineers suspect a defective seal that, even if the leak worsens, could be managed in flight. Boeing is targeting June 1 for the launch from Florida.Identification of the leak led to the discovery of a “design vulnerability” in Starliner’s propulsion system in the unlikely event of a string of failures, said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. The team has developed workaround methods to get the capsule safely out of orbit at flight’s end if such problems arise, he added.“We’re …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
