Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked at the forward port of the Harmony module. This long-duration image was taken at night from the orbital complex as it flew 256 miles above the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India. Credit: NASA
Engineers at NASA and Boeing are examining recent engine tests to ensure the safe return of the Boeing Crew Flight Test. At the same time, astronauts on the ISS are conducting health and science experiments, adding to our understanding of the effects of space on human physiology and materials science.
NASA and Boeing engineers are evaluating the results of last week’s engine tests at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the team works on plans to bring the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test back from the International Space Station in the coming weeks.
Teams have completed the hot fire ground test at White Sands and are working to evaluate the test data and inspect the test engine. Ongoing ground analysis is expected to continue throughout the week. Using a reaction control system thruster built for a future Starliner spacecraft, ground teams fired the engine under conditions similar to those experienced during flight on the way to the space station. The ground tests also included stress case firings and replicated conditions that Starliner’s thrusters will experience from undocking to deorbit burn, where the thrusters will fire to slow Starliner’s velocity to deorbit it for landing in the southwestern United States.
For a detailed overview of the test plans, listen to a replay of a recent conference call with NASA and Boeing leadership:
“I’m extremely proud of the NASA, Boeing team for their hard work in executing a very complex test series,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We collected an incredible amount of data about the thruster that will help us better understand what’s happening during flight. Our team then began disassembling and inspecting engines, which will give us additional insight as we analyze the results and evaluate next steps.”
Preparing for Starliner’s return to Earth
Integrated ground teams are also preparing for an in-depth Agency Flight Test Readiness Review, which will evaluate data related to the performance of the spacecraft’s propulsion system prior to its return to Earth. The date of the Agency Review has not yet been set.
NASA and Boeing leadership plan to discuss the testing and analysis work in depth at a press conference next week. More information from the briefing will be available soon.
NASA astronaut and Boeing Crew Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore works on the Fluid Systems Servicer, which drains, purifies and circulates fluids on systems aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Astronaut activities and research on the ISS
While testing and analysis is underway on Earth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander of the Starliner mission, and Suni Williams, pilot of the mission, are working with the Expedition 71 crew. The two participated in vein scans Monday using the Ultrasound 2 machine. Physicians on the ground monitored in real time as the two took turns scanning each other’s neck, shoulder and leg veins. Wilmore then scanned the veins of NASA colleague Matthew Dominick, helping researchers understand how microgravity affects the human body.
Wilmore and Dominick also spent part of the day taking inventory of the food stored aboard the space station. Williams worked on a pair of studies, first investigating the use of microgravity to produce higher-quality optical fibers than those on Earth. Williams also investigated the use of fluid physics, such as surface tension, to overcome the lack of gravity when watering and feeding plants that grow in space.