Boeing Starliner back at factory to diagnose and fix the propulsion system valves – Florida Today

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Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned to its factory at Kennedy Space Center this week but it wasn't the homecoming anybody hoped for.

Starliner, designed to fly astronauts to the International Space Station,was set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Aug. 3 for its second orbital flight test but problemswith the propulsion system valves halted the countdown.

Engineers discovered that 13 oxidizer valves were stuck in the closed position.The failed valves were on thrusters that control both orbital maneuvering as well as controlling the spacecraft during rendezvous and docking with the space station.

Over the next few days, the Boeing team was able to get nine of the valves to open but four of them remain stuck in the closed position.

John Vollmer, vice president and program manager of Boeings Commercial Crew Program, said that a moisture issueis most likely the cause of the problem

The moisture we saw on the valve is atmospheric moisture. It is not intrusion moisture," said on a call with reporters.

Now that Starliner is back at Boeing's factory, the team will resume deeper level troubleshooting.

Weve got to go back and look and see if there was some ambient moisture that was retained in there during the assembly of these valves or was there something that caused a leak of moisture to get in there? Vollmer said.

Boeing is working with their partners at Aerojet Rocketdyne, the company that manufacturesthe propulsion system, to solve the problem.

The second attempt of Starliners orbital flight test will not happen this month and Vollmer said it's too soon to project when or if it will launch this year.

Boeinghas been under enormous pressureto show its spacecraftis reliable after software issues hampered its first orbitalflight test in Dec. 2019.

NASA selected two providers, SpaceX and Boeing, to be launch providers capable of carrying astronauts to the space station to encourage competition and to end America's reliance on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

SpaceX is getting ready to send its fourth crewed mission to the space stationon Oct. 31 carrying NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer.

Contact Rachael Joy Nail at 321-242-3577. Follow her on Twitter @Rachael_Joy.

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Boeing Starliner back at factory to diagnose and fix the propulsion system valves - Florida Today