Starliner

Boeing wanted to get back on track with Starliner after its most difficult year. The contract with NASA just changed in a key point

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For years, Starliner was presented as Boeing’s opportunity to aspire to a leading role in American manned flights, in a scenario in which SpaceX I moved faster with Dragon. The contract signed with NASA in 2014 It represented that opportunity: six manned flights and an open door to a new cycle of missions. Eleven years later, the situation is different. That agreement has been adjusted and the next mission has become an exam without people on board. That agreement placed Starliner within the program with which the US space agency sought to guarantee two different US vehicles to the International Space Station. The idea was clear: have more than one capsule capable of transporting astronauts, long-term planning and autonomy in low orbit. That document established that, once the ship was certified, Boeing would operate six manned flights for regular rotations. All this with an eye on the station’s deadline, scheduled for 2030. A shortened contract, by mutual agreement. NASA and Boeing have decided to modify the conditions of the original agreement and reduce the number of guaranteed flights. Instead of the six manned missions planned after certification, the new scenario includes a mission without astronauts, intended to validate the system, and up to three crew rotations. In addition, there are two optional flights that NASA can activate depending on its mission needs. This review also reduces the value of the contract, which goes from $4.5 billion to $3.732 million, after deducting $768 million. Starliner-1 changes roles. This mission without astronauts has a name: Starliner-1, and it has become a key piece of the system validation plan. NASA will use it to send cargo to the International Space Station and verify, in real conditions, that the changes introduced after the manned flight in 2024 offer sufficient guarantees. The target date remains no earlier than April 2026, provided the spacecraft successfully completes testing, certification and pre-launch preparation. A history of setbacks: The first warning came with flight OFT-1 in December 2019, when some problems prevented for Starliner to complete the planned profile and approach the International Space Station. The mission had to be terminated early. In 2022, the OFT-2 flight managed to reach the station, but problems appeared in several thrusters. Two years later, during the first manned flight, several thrusters failed again on approachwhich led NASA to order the return of the ship without the astronauts. NASA and Boeing engineers inspect the Starliner spacecraft after landing in White Sands, New Mexico, during the OFT-2 orbital test in May 2022 When NASA decided that Starliner would not bring Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back, they both extended their stay on the International Space Station much longer than planned. In total it was nine months, until the agency scheduled a Dragon flight with two fewer astronauts than usual to have enough space. That landing, in March 2025, allowed the return to be completed and confirmed that the evaluation process on Starliner was still open after the 2024 manned flight. Meanwhile, Dragon. In parallel, Dragon began operating with astronauts in 2020 and was progressively incorporated into NASA’s regular planning. Since then, the SpaceX capsule has covered the planned rotations within the Commercial Crew Program, becoming the vehicle regularly used to access the International Space Station. In August 2025, the Crew-11 mission was completed, and Crew-12 is scheduled for February 2026. NASA has booked additional flights with Dragon until the station’s operational end, scheduled for 2030. Less flights, less income, more pressure. The contract modification also means a change in Boeing’s position within the program. The reduction of the total value to 3,732 million dollars implies 768 million dollars less compared to the original figure, with fewer guaranteed flights and a greater weight of optional missions. According to Reutersthe company has invested more than $2 billion since 2016 in this development, which adds relevance to Starliner’s performance in upcoming flights. Despite this, Boeing says it remains committed to the program. Redundancy against the clock. For NASA, Starliner remains relevant because the agency wants two independent systems that can transport astronauts to the International Space Station. Steve Stich, head of the Commercial Crew Program, summed it up by pointing out that the plan involves certifying the ship in 2026, scheduling its first manned rotation when it is ready and coordinating future flights according to the operational needs of the station, which will remain active until 2030. Maintaining this double capacity is key so that the agency does not depend exclusively on a single vehicle. What happens from now on will depend on the outcome of the next flights. If the system manages to be certified in 2026, Starliner can still participate in up to three crewed rotations, with two additional options subject to NASA decision. Boeing maintains its commitment and suggests that the ship could have a place in commercial projects after the end of the International Space Station, although these scenarios are yet to be defined. The opportunity has not disappeared, but it no longer looks as much like the one signed in 2014. Images | NASA (1, 2) | Boeing In Xataka | Starship’s great hope has gotten off to a bad start: a new and painful explosion

One of the Starliner ship astronauts has revealed that Houston skipped the regulation to save them: “They are heroes”

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NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are already at home After nine months of extended mission In the International Space Station. Although they have avoided participating in the political controversies surrounding your caseWilmore had a revealing interview with Ars Technica in which he explains that the failure of the Starliner ship was more tense than they had told us. The delays prior to the launch. Everything was ready to launch the Starliner ship in early May. Butch and Suni had begun their quarantine, a usual practice to reduce the risk of infecting a virus or infectious disease to other crew members of the International Space Station. However, a problem with a valve in the Centaur stage of the Atlas V and A helium leak in Starliner herself They delayed the launch for weeks. Butch Wilmore, ship’s pilot, asked NASA to return to Houston to continue practicing in the simulator, because he felt that his knowledge was no longer fresh. Finally, they took off on June 5, 2024. Cold aboard the ship. The launch of the Starliner was soft and very precise. Even more than the astronauts expected, since it did not require the typical trajectory corrections they had seen in the simulator or in previous experiences such as NASA astronauts. Butch and Suni felt, on the other hand, something for which the simulator had not prepared them: a booth too cold. Designed to carry four astronauts (or up to seven crew In missions outside NASA), the temperature aboard the Starliner, with only two inhabitants in this first test mission, fell below the 10 ºC, Wilmore recalls. Both went cold and ended up sleeping with their space costumes to heat a little. They begin to lose propellants. The problems that would mark the fate of the mission began on the second day. While approaching autonomously to the International Space Station, the Starliner began to lose propellants. The Boeing ship has 28 reaction control propellants to maneuver in orbit. Oriented backwards, forward and in three radio directions, they control their position and guidance both to secure a port of the ISS and to exorbit, on its return, towards the landing place. A tense approach to ISS. There were some problems with the performance of the propellants during A crew test in May 2022and Butch Wilmore worried him that they could reappear. It was just what happened. In its final approximation to the ISS, the ship lost two thrusters and Butch had to take manual control to maintain its trajectory. The thing would not end there. With Wilmore at the controls, the ship lost a third propeller and shortly after the room. At that time they stopped being able to promote themselves in one of the directions necessary for the approach. A decision against the regulation. According to official procedures, at that point they had to abort the approach to the International Space Station and return to Earth, since the attempt to coupch was too risky. Not only for them, but also for the ISS crew and for the orbital laboratory of 100,000 million dollars. At the same time, Butch and Suni thought that turning with so much failures would be equally dangerous. “I don’t know if we can return to earth,” said Butch Wilmore. “In fact, I think we probably can’t.” To top it off, they had been below the ISS, so they were traveling faster than the station and were moving away from it. Then, NASA’s mission control center, and more specifically flight director Ed Van Cise, decided to move forward with the coupling, against the manual. Heroes. “These people are heroes,” says Wilmore in the interview. “The heroes put on the tank, run to a flame building and take people out of there. The heroes also spend decades in their cubicles studying their systems and knowing them perfectly.” “And when there is no time to evaluate a situation, to talk to people and ask them what they think, they know their system so well that they devise a plan on the march. That is a hero. And there are several of them in mission control.” Have you tried to turn it off and turn it on? Houston informed Wilmore of the Plan, he released the controls and, immediately afterwards, the mission controllers sent a command to the Starliner to restart their systems. Turn off and turn on the ship resulted. They managed to recover the propelants and the control of the Starliner, Although then a fifth propeller failed that never recovered. With the help of the Mission Control Center, the ship managed to return to the autonomous mode and attach to the International Space Station. Now NASA’s decision is understood. If Butch had lost the fifth propeller while sailing manually with four less, the ship would have run out of the redundant maneuver necessary to control its reentry. It would have been potentially catastrophic. Even if Boeing collaborated with the investigation in the later months and expressed his confidence in the Starliner, the decision that the ship returned empty and the two crew remained in the ISS until the next rotation of astronauts In a spacex crew dragon It makes a lot of sense. The future of Starliner. The ship is still not certified for manned flights to the International Space Station. Boeing has lost $ 1.6 billion in its developmentbut NASA has hired six flights and maintains its intention to certify it for operational trips to the ISS next year. Although helium leaks seem solved with new stamps, propulsion failures are still not closed, so NASA and Boeing engineers will perform a series of exhaustive tests at the agency’s facilities in White Sands (New Mexico) to validate possible modifications, such as thermal barriers or changes in propulsion pulses. The next flight of the CST-100 Starliner ship to the International Space Station will not occur until the end of this year or principles that come, According to NASA. A new demonstration is needed in flight because Boeing could … Read more

Starliner astronauts made nine months of extra hours. The bonus they are going to receive from NASA is ridiculous

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The image of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finally on earth It will be possibly one of the 2025 snapshots. To remember his HISTORY HISTORY in space after the multiple leaks and failures of the Boeing Starliner. If you are wondering if it is worth being an astronaut after such a case, the answer is given by the bonus that they will receive for that time “more” in orbit. It is not a matter of money. It goes for long. As We countAstronauts Williams and Wilmore finally returned to Earth after nine months have passed in space, a period much longer than initially planned. His mission aboard the Boeing Starliner began in June 2024 and had to last just over a week. However, a ruling in the capsule propellars prevented its correct coupling with the International Space Station (EEI), leaving astronauts stranded in orbit until the technical problems were solved. The delay generated Great anxiety in social networkswith many speculating about the safety and well -being of astronauts. However, Williams and Wilmore remained firm in their commitment to the mission and denied the statements that they were “abandoned” or “trapped.” In fact and according to Wilmore himself clarifiedthese types of unforeseen events are part of the work and are something for which they are prepared. The economic sacrifice. Despite the extreme challenges they face, the truth is that NASA astronauts do not receive additional compensation for the danger of their missions or for long hours of work in space. Williams and Wilmore earn a salary that is public: an upright annual 152,258 dollars based on updated NASA rates. However, and here is the Quid that differentiates it with other types of “ordinary” works, the salary does not include payment for extra hours, holidays or dangerous conditions, a notable difference with respect to many other well -paid professions on earth. According to Mike Massiminoformer NASA astronaut, “there is no extra pay due to danger, or compensation for working longer in space,” which means that, despite having spent nine months in orbit instead of a week, astronauts will not receive any additional remuneration. The closest thing to an “extra” pay you receive is a small daily stipendio of 5 dollars for being in space, a very small amount and we would say that ridiculous, adding just $ 1,430 for the 286 days that passed in the US. What does NASA say. For its part, the American space agency argues that astronauts They have all their expenses coveredincluding transport, accommodation and food during their stay in the US. Again, compared to other work of high salaries that do not imply physical risks, astronaut’s pay may seem disproportionate, especially if we take into account the danger they face. It is not a matter of money. This takes us to the other Quid of being an astronaut. While other professions with similar salaries, let’s put A bank workeror a notary, they allow working in comfortable environments without exposure to mortal hazards, space exploration implies isolation, uncertainty and constant risk. And, even so, many astronauts choose this race. The key seems clear: they do it by pure vocation and passion for space, rather than for economic reasons. Being Astronaut is still a dream of childhood for many. In fact, A 2019 study De Lego revealed that more than 10% of children in the United States and the United Kingdom continued to aspire to become astronauts, despite the rise of new professions such as digital content creators. For Williams and Wilmore, the possibility of contributing to space exploration and scientific research surely exceeds any financial sacrifice. It is not a wait, it is a mission. In addition, we must understand that, throughout their stay in the US, Williams and Wilmore not only expected their return home, but actively worked in the maintenance and improvement of the station. Nine months give a lot, and there they were with tasks such as inspection and repair of hardware, loading of loading and supplies, support of scientific experiments and technological demonstrations, configuration of a new air lock system or with physical activity tests in microgravity. In summary, his time in orbit contributed to NASA’s scientific knowledge and the maintenance of the EEI as a key center for space exploration. Resistance and commitment. No doubt, for many of us the simple idea of ​​being stranded in space may seem an unimaginable nightmare. But for astronauts like Williams and Wilmore, it is simply part of the work. According to Ken BowersoxNASA’s Head of Space Operations, astronauts are trained not to focus on when they will return, but in the success of the mission. Perhaps for this reason, and beyond the money they receive, what happened is a good reminder that, in space exploration, motivation and resilience are as important as technology itself. Image | POT In Xataka | “Stranded” astronauts in space say goodbye to the ISS with a script turn: supporting Elon Musk’s version In Xataka | The soap opera is over: the “stranded” astronauts in space have returned to Earth nine months later

convert the escape of Helio de la Starliner into a great military advance

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A few weeks ago, the two “stranded” astronauts in space after leaving for the International Space Station on June 5 aboard the Starliner ship, received good news: He had decided to advance his return. For Boeing, however, the mission fiasco is far from finishing. In fact, the company is Trying to sell your bleeding space division by piecesl. The latest: it seems that China has taken “oil” from the main problem of the Starliner. Boeing’s problem as inspiration. In a surprising return of technological nut, Chinese scientists seem to have transformed the serious crisis that affects NASA (and especially Boeing) in A revolution in aerospace propulsion. The Boeing Starliner capsule suffered multiple helium leaks that incapacitated their propulsion systems, leaving the two astronauts trapped at the International Space Station. That incident turned the heliuman ultralight gas traditionally used to pressurize liquid fuels, in A symbol of technical vulnerability. Now, Chinese researchers have seen in that same weakness a unique opportunity to develop a disruptive technology, a Able to revolutionize both the military and spatial field. Solid propulsion driven by Helio. The team of scientists, led by Yang Zenan of the Harbin University of Engineering, has revealed in a recent study Published in the Magazine Aeronautica et Astronautics Sinica How helium controlled injection can considerably multiply the performance of solid fuel rocket. Specifically, they discovered that by introducing helium through microscopic pores (about 2 mm) in the combustion chamber, It is possible to increase the specific engine efficiency by 5.77%. In addition, by precisely adjusting the proportion between helium and combustion gases (a part of helium for every four parts of fuel gas), scientists They managed to instantly triple the engine thrustcarrying it from 100% to 313% according to operational needs. Advantage: Thermal camouflage and invisibility. The use of helium is not limited to potential improvements or thrust. One of its most strategic advantages lies in the drastic reduction in the temperature of the exhaust gases. The helium, Being extremely light (With a molar mass of only 4 g/mol in front of the 29 g/mol of the typical combustion gases), expand and cool the escape flow, lowering its temperature by up to 1,327 degrees Celsius. This thermal reduction implies a radical decrease in the infrared signal of the missiles propelled by this technology, making them almost impossible to detect through infrared sensors modern military satellite employees such as Spacex Starshield and interceptor systems such as The SM-3 Block IIA. Also improved stability and safety. Another relevant feature of helium, highlighted by researchers, is Its chemically inert naturewhich avoids common problems associated with unstable combustion caused by other light gases, especially hydrogen. This ensures, they explain, that The flight is soft and predictableeliminating many operational risks that traditionally hinder the practical application of more volatile alternative technologies. In addition, by absorbing excess heat generated by combustion, helium not only reduces the exhaust temperature, but also Protects internal engine materials, extending its useful life and decreasing operational risks. Military and strategic applications. They count on work that from a strategic and military perspective, technology has deep implications. The Ability to quickly modulate the thrust of a missile in flight allows Unpredictable attack trajectoriessignificantly improving your maneuverability. This aspect is especially relevant to advanced defensive systems, since the combination of lower infrared detectability and variable acceleration capacity makes interception greatly difficult, especially in the context of defense against hypersonic missiles. According to Chinese researchers, this innovation could directly solve the current challenges facing their weapons systems in terms of speed, scope and thermal stealth, presenting a real challenge to antimile defenses developed by the United States. Civil and spatial potential applications. However, the benefits of this technological innovation transcend the military. According to the research team, this technique could also revolutionize the civil and commercial field, especially in The rapid and economical launch of satellites by solid fuel rockets. As? The capacity would be particularly valuable for urgent deployments in commercial, scientific or humanitarian contexts, providing an agile, profitable and adaptable solution against the expensive current launch systems. Current context and relevance. Meanwhile, in the United States the initial crisis continues. As we explained at the beginning, NASA recently announced that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, affected by the Starliner’s breakdown, Finally they will return to Earth in mid -March using a Spacex ship. In the words of the NASA Traffic Program manager, Steve Stich, the incident has demonstrated once again that “the human space flight is full of unexpected challenges.” Paradoxically, that same challenge that affected NASA and Boeing has served for Chinese scientists to achieve, on paper, a disruptive innovation that could deeply redefine the rules of technological and strategic game in the near future. Image | POT, Gaystock In Xataka | After the fiasco of the Starliner ship, Boeing is trying to sell its bleeding spatial division by pieces In Xataka | The two “stranded” astronauts in space have received their first good news in months: their return will be advanced

Starliner astronauts will return home 287 days later. Another ship change has forced to modify the plans

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NASA has decided to advance the return of the CREW-9 mission and, with it, that of the Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams astronauts, who left for the International Space Station on June 5, 2024 in the Boeing Starliner ship. Despite Elon Musk and Donald Trump messagesreason is not political, but operational. A few days of advance. If new delays on their trip, Butch and Suni will not return will return home on March 19. Taking into account that they were launched to space for a week, it is nine months after planned. But if we stick to The last date that NASA managedastronauts will return with a few days of advance. Context. In June 2024, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams left towards the ISS aboard the Starliner space capsule, Boeing’s alternative to the Crew Dragon ship of Spacex. It was the first manned trip of the Boeing spacecraft, and it was assumed that the last certification test before starting to transport astronauts regularly to the International Space Station. However, shortly after its launch, The Starliner experienced serious problems in its propulsion systemwhich forced to suspend his return. The situation lasted several months until NASA decided that the ship returned empty. This accident left astronauts at the space station and forced NASA to find a different solution for its return. What they are waiting for. Once the destiny of the Starliner, Wilmore and Williams decided, they became part of the permanent crew of the ISS. They work in the experiments in orbit and the maintenance of the station. They have even made space walks: Wilmore has two on this mission, and has become The woman with more hours of extravehicular activity. So that they could return, NASA He booked two empty seats on the Crew-9 mission of Spacex. The Crew Dragon ship in which they will return to Earth has been coupled to the ISS since September Station maintenance. And the CREW-10 mission is not yet ready. Another change of ship. The CREW-10 mission was supposed to take off in a new Crew Dragon ship, called C213, which has not yet flown to space. However, a technical incidence, apparently related to the ship’s batteries, forced to delay its first flight at least until the end of April. Instead of continuing to delay the calendar (and with it, the return of Wilmore and Williams), NASA has opted for a logistics maneuver: Reassign to the CREW-10 mission an already tested shipthe C210 ‘Endurance’, which was preparing to fly with the private axiom-4 mission in spring. Thanks to this ship change, Crew-9’s return not only is not delayed, but is ahead of a few days. New dates. NASA plans to launch the CREW-10 mission on March 12, 2025, which would allow the CREW-9 to return on March 19 with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, along with their companions Nick Hague (NASA) and Aleksandr Gorbunov (from the Russian agency Roscosmos). This change of dates responds, as we have seen, to a technical and operational issue, but explains why Elon Musk and Donald Trump published on social networks that Spacex would rescue the two astronauts “abandoned in the ISS” as soon as possible. A propaganda narrative of what was really happening after the curtain. Image | Suni Williams during a space walk (NASA) In Xataka | It is not that Elon Musk has managed to introduce its influence on NASA. Is that he has entered sweeping

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