Here’s yet another mess NASA and Boeing have gotten us in.
After waking up from my weekend news coma on Sunday, I discovered that Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — the one that certainly hasn’t left Barry Wilmore or Sunita William stranded during their Week 70 stay aboard the ISS – had a strict date for its delayed return to Earth later this month.
Or maybe not.
Imagine the docking ports of space stations as the most expensive parking spots above or on Earth. That’s what they are. Only a few docking ports are available, each one costs millions of dollars and is reserved years or months in advance. There is no chance of double parking. The current vehicle must vacate every docking port before the next one can use it.
The dock that is currently occupied by Starliner will be needed by the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with its four astronauts to fly Crew-9. The Crew-9 mission is scheduled for August 18th and will arrive at the ISS a few days later. The details are vague. Starliner must be somewhere else at that time, even if Wilmore or Williams aren’t on board.
Before I get into the news, please understand that each delay in getting a capsule to ISS will have cascading consequences down the road. The station is also nearing its end of service life in 2030 and it will be deorbited.
This morning, I found out that NASA has decided to move Crew-9’s launch date from August 18th to September 24th. Space journalist Eric Berger, the best in his field, called this “a significant slip.” This is the result of a virtual admission that Wilmore and Williams won’t be returning home this week, next, or at all on Starliner.
Boeing requires extra time to prepare Starliner’s self-destructive capability.
NASA and Boeing are working hard to determine whether Starliner can be returned to service, or if there is a risk for Wilmore and Williams. They will need to software-pilot Starliner to burn up on Earth if they find it unfit. Wimore and Williams must take a Crew Dragon back to Earth.
The preparations are underway for this.
Berger’s Monday update stated that “three separate sources confirmed to Ars the fact that the current software aboard Starliner is unable to perform an automated entry into Earth’s atmosphere and undocking of the space station.” Sources said that the update of the Starliner software was a significant’ and non-trivial process, and could take four weeks.
Boeing has not said why the automation software was not installed on the Starliner version flown by Wilmore and Williams. It’s causing multimillion-dollar delays for weeks during the final years of the ISS.
NASA’s final decision is expected this week. I would be surprised and relieved if, at this stage, they decided to keep Starliner.
