NASA has made this June 2, 2021 photo available. NASA technicians are preparing Boeing's CST-100 Starliner to undergo its Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) at the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Officials from NASA and Boeing announced that the capsule was grounded by a valve problem on Friday, August 13, 2021. Credit: NASA via APBoeing's capsule for astronauts is currently grounded, possibly even into next year, due to a valve problem.Officials from NASA and Boeing announced Friday that the Starliner capsule would be removed from its rocket's top and brought back to Kennedy Space Center for further repairs.Starliner was set to fly again to the International Space Station on its second test flight last week, carrying a mannequin and no astronauts. Software issues prevented a similar capsule from reaching the space station in 2019.John Vollmer, Boeing's vice president and program manager for the commercial crew program, stated that "we're obviously disappointed." "We'll fly this test as soon as we're ready and safe to."NASA's Human Exploration Office's Kathy Lueders said that it was "another example why these demo missions were so very important to our organization... to ensure we have the system in place before we put our crews aboard."The performance of Boeing is quite different from that of SpaceX (NASA's contracted taxi service). SpaceX has already flown 10 astronauts into the space station in just over one year. Four more are due to fly aboard its Dragon capsule at October's end. Elon Musk's SpaceX will celebrate another milestone next month, when it launches a billionaire into space with three guests, including two contest winners.Vollmer claimed that 13 of the capsule's propellant system valves were infected by moisture from the air. The combination of moisture and a corrosive fuel burning chemical had caused the valves to not open as they should have before Aug. 3. Launch attempt.Nine of the valves were fixed as of Friday. The remaining four valves will require more extensive work.Although rain from a severe storm penetrated some capsule's thrusters at pad, engineers don't believe it was the same moisture that caused valves to stick. Vollmer stated that engineers are still trying to figure out how and when this moisture reached the capsule.These 13 valves are just a few of the many that are connected to thrusters to propel the capsule into orbit and the station. They also need to re-enter space at the end of flight. Vollmer stated that all the valves had worked well five weeks before and were able to perform in the 2019 test flight.Vollmer stated that it is too early to determine if the valves need to be replaced, or redesigned. Aerojet Rocketdyne provided the valves and the rest of the propulsion systems.Vollmer hesitated to give an estimate of when Starliner will be ready for another attempt due to all the uncertainty. Boeing will have to deal with other space station traffic and a NASA asteroid mission due to launch from the same pad in October.Vollmer stated to reporters that it was too early to know if it will be this year.Continue reading: Boeing Starliner launches face further delays2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Without permission, this material may not be broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
