The Boeing Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station for a NASA crew flight test is pictured attached to the front port of the Harmony module. This time-lapse photo was taken at night from the orbital complex as it soared 256 miles above the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India. Credit: NASA
Engineers in the company NASA and Boeing are reviewing recent engine tests to ensure the safe return of Boeing’s flight test crew. At the same time, astronauts on the ISS engage in medical and scientific experiments, contributing to our understanding of the effects of space on human physiology and materials science.
NASA and Boeing engineers evaluate last week’s engine test results at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the team works on plans to return the agency’s Boeing crewed flight test. International Space Station in the coming weeks.
The teams have completed ground fire tests 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. Ground teams, working with a reaction control system built for the future Starliner spacecraft, started the engine under similar flight conditions to those experienced by the spacecraft en route to the space station. The ground tests also included firings in stress situations and replicated the conditions the Starliner thrusters would experience from disengagement to deorbital burn, where the thrusters would fire to slow the Starliner down to take it out of orbit for a landing in the southwestern United States.
For a detailed overview of the test plans, listen to the recording of a recent media conference call with NASA and Boeing management:
“I am extremely proud of the NASA and Boeing team for their hard work in executing a very complex test series,” said Steve Stich, NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager. “We have collected an incredible amount of data about the jet that could help us better understand what happens in flight. Next, our team moved on to engine disassembly and inspections, which will give us further insight into how we will analyze the results and evaluate next steps.”
Preparing for the return of Earth Starliner
Integrated ground teams are also preparing for an in-depth inspection of the agency’s flight test readiness, which will evaluate data related to the spacecraft’s propulsion system performance before it returns to Earth. The date of the agency’s review has not yet been determined.
NASA and Boeing executives plan to discuss the test and analysis work in detail at a news conference next week. More information about the briefing will be released soon.
NASA astronaut and Boeing Flight Test Commander Butch Wilmore works on the Fluid Systems Servicer, which drains, flushes and circulates fluids in systems aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA
Astronaut activities and research on the ISS
While tests and analyzes are underway on Earth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Starliner mission commander, and Suni Williams, mission pilot, work alongside the Expedition 71 crew. Both participated in vein scans Monday with Ultrasound 2. Doctors on the ground monitored in real time , as the pair were alternately displayed on the neck, shoulders and legs. Then Wilmore scanned the veins of fellow NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, which helped researchers understand how microgravity affects the human body.
Wilmore and Dominick also spent part of the day inventorying 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 on Earth. Williams also researched the use of fluid physics, such as surface tension, to overcome the lack of gravity to water and nourish plants grown in space.