{"id":65818,"date":"2024-06-15T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=65818"},"modified":"2024-06-15T10:04:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-15T00:04:00","slug":"boeings-starliner-now-has-5-leaks-while-parked-outside-the-iss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=65818","title":{"rendered":"Boeing\u2019s Starliner Now Has 5 Leaks While Parked Outside the ISS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following an\u00a0iffy docking<\/a>\u00a0at the International Space Station last week, Boeing managed to deliver a pair of NASA astronauts to the orbital lab. The stressful Starliner saga continues as the crew capsule developed more leaks in its service module. NASA is currently evaluating its ability to return the duo back to Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an update shared on Monday, NASA revealed<\/a> that the Starliner teams are assessing the impact that five helium leaks would have on the remainder of the mission. \u201cWhile Starliner is docked, all the manifolds are closed per normal mission operations preventing helium loss from the tanks,\u201d the space agency wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve been keeping track, there were three leaks on the Starliner spacecraft<\/a> the last time we checked. Starliner teams had identified two new leaks on the spacecraft after it launched on June 5, in addition to a helium leak that was detected prior to liftoff<\/a>. The team took some time to assess the issue before launching the capsule, but eventually Boeing and NASA decided to proceed with flying the crew on the leaky Starliner spacecraft without resolving the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The spacecraft consists of a reusable crew capsule and an expendable service module. Helium is used in the spacecraft\u2019s thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire without being combustible or toxic. \u201cWe can handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow even up to 100 times,\u201d Steve Stich, manager of NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew Program, said during a news conference before the Starliner launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it\u2019s getting there. Despite the leaks suggesting a larger issue with Starliner\u2019s propulsion system, NASA remains confident in its commercial partner and is downplaying the spacecraft\u2019s anomalies. \u201cEngineers evaluated the helium supply based on current leak rates and determined that Starliner has plenty of margin to support the return trip from station,\u201d NASA wrote in its update. \u201cOnly seven hours of free-flight time is needed to perform a normal end of mission, and Starliner currently has enough helium left in its tanks to support 70 hours of free flight activity following undocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cnormal end of mission\u201d is key here seeing as how Starliner had a hard time docking to the ISS. Starliner missed its first docking opportunity at 12:15 p.m. ET due to technical issues, prompting NASA to target another docking window an hour later. Five of the spacecraft thrusters failed during its approach, and four were subsequently recovered. The capsule finally docked<\/a> with the ISS at 1:34 p.m. ET on June 6.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stressful Starliner saga continues as the crew capsule developed more leaks in its service module. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":65819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[398,9440,9267],"tags":[10450,10451,10449],"class_list":["post-65818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-boeing","category-space-flight","category-space-news","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss","tag-starliner"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t