technologist with Boeing and NASA are honing in on the root cause of a technological bug that lead in the cancelation of a Starliner mental test launching . A bright theory suggest wet aim into the spacecraft ’s propulsion system , make critical valve to get stuck . As to how this moisture arrest in , however , is now a interrogation in motive of an reply .
“ The time has come for us to bestow Starliner back to the factory , ” John Vollmer , vice president and program manager of Boeing ’s Commercial Crew Program , solemnly explained during a NASA teleconferencing held today . The space vehicle will be take down from the top of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and transported to Boeing ’s manufacturing plant at Kennedy Space Center , which once dish up as a Space Shuttle processing facility .
Starliner has been parked inside ULA ’s Vertical Integration Facility for over a week now as engineers with both Boeing and NASA tried to “ mend functionality ” to 13 oxidiser valves that failed to open during countdown to launch on August 3rd . It was to be the second uncrewed trial flying of CST-100 Starliner and its first flight since later 2019 . For the first test , Starliner actually managed to get off the ground and into infinite , but a software failure prevented it from reaching its intend goal , the International Space Station . Boeing work its way throughnumerous fixesover the past class and a half , leading to the now indefinitely postponed Orbital Flight Test-2 ( OFT-2 ) .
Starliner inside the Vertical Integration Facility.Image: Boeing
“ We ’re not defeated , ” Kathryn Lueders , NASA consociate administrator for human exploration and operation , told reporters during the teleconference . “ We ’re just sad , ” she said , impart that “ we will learn from this . ”
Lueders was the designated optimist of the press conference , persistently framing the spot in glass - half - full condition and abstain from guide vital words towards NASA ’s commercial pardner Boeing .
“ We ’re give-up the ghost to go fix this problem , and we ’re going to move forward , ” Lueders tell . “ And we ’re go to fly when we ’re ready . ” It was a “ disappointing Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , ” she tell , but “ this is why the demo deputation are so important . ”
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 on 15 May 2025.Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Specialists managed to move seven of the stuck valves by August 10 and nine by August 13 . All but four of the 13 valves were recovered , but after having “ done everything we can on those , ” Boeing “ ultimately decided to stop and go back to the factory ” where engineers will continue with further troubleshooting , as Vollmer explained . The plan , he said , is to disassemble as small of Starliner as possible to minimize pinch to the current contour .
Vollmer , along with Steve Stich , handler of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , shared new details about the problem and what possibly get untimely .
Starliner is equipped with 24 oxidation valves , 24 fuel valve , and 16 helium valves . These valves sequestrate thrusters from propellant tanks , and they need to be heart-to-heart prior to launching . The “ most potential root cause ” of the trouble , said Vollmer , is that moisture somehow got onto the wry side of the oxidisation valve , resulting in the shaping of nitric Zen . Friction from the result corrosion caused the 13 valve to get stick , fit in to this possibility . The moisture could have entered into the organization during assembly of Starliner , during check - outs prior to launch , or while the spacecraft was on the launch pad , as Stich explained .
Vollmer said it ’s possible that atmospheric moisture somehow cower into the system of rules and percolate the valve cover version . piddle splashing in from an intense violent storm that swept through the launch launching pad a day prior to the scheduled launch is likely not the generator of this wet , he added . It ’s not known if a redesign is required or if preventive measures will do the trick , but it ’s “ sure as shooting something that needs to be resolve , ” said Vollmer .
“ We use polytetrafluoroethylene seals that can withstand NTO [ nitrogen tetroxide ] , which is a very corrosive oxidiser , ” Vollmer say . “ We know there is interpenetration through that seal , ” so specialists will “ have to go back to see if ambient moisture was retain during assemblage ” of Starliner , or if something else caused the wet to find its way into the valves afterwards , he said .
To which he summate : “ There are a lot of thing on the fault tree , and a lot of things on the fault tree that interact with each other , but that is so far the top nominee for the cause of the fault . ”
Vollmer said the valves were checked five week prior to launching , and they “ worked perfectly . ” What ’s more , it ’s the same design as one used during Orbital Flight Test-1 and on pad abort test vehicles . Because roquette set in motion from Florida all the sentence , engineers will have to forecast out why humidity should short be a problem , if this is indeed the source cause , he articulate . Only oxidizer valves experienced the problem , and no issue was notice with the fuel or helium valves , according to Vollmer . Had a launching happened , the stuck valve would have affected the carrying into action of Starliner ’s OMAC ( orbital maneuvering and attitude mastery ) and RCS ( chemical reaction control condition system ) thrusters . But as both Stich and Vollmer cue reporters , rockets are not cleared for launch with valve in the closed position .
No timeline was given for when Starliner might lastly get off the earth , but Stich said the OFT-2 mission will “ definitely ” befall after the launch of NASA ’s Lucy , a space probe that will search Jupiter ’s trojan asteroid . Window for that launching starts on October 16 and terminate on November 7 . Vollmer chimed in , aver it ’s too former to tell if Starliner will launch this year , “ but we ’re hoping for as betimes as possible . ”
It ’s a very discouraging and frustrating position , no doubt . In the meantime , NASA will go along to swear on SpaceX ’s Crew Dragon to deliver its cosmonaut to the ISS .
More : NASA ’s 2024 Moon landing is almost certainly not go to chance .
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