Monday, May 6th 2024 should hopefully mark the start of a new phase of crewed space launches from US soil when the long-overdue NASA Crewed Flight Test (CFT) of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner lifts-off from Canaveral Space Force Station and heads for the International Space Station (ISS).
As I’ve noted in these updates, the Starliner is one of two commercial vehicles specifically contracted by NASA to handle crew transfers to / from the ISS (the other being the SpaceX Crew Dragon), under the the Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Like Crew Dragon, it comprises a reusable capsule powered and supported by an expendable service module. Like both NASA’s Orion capsule (which is somewhat larger) and the Crew Dragon (which is somewhat smaller), the Starliner is also capable of other missions to low-Earth orbit outside of its primary NASA function.
Capable of carrying up to seven people (the general crew complement for an ISS Expedition crew rotation) – although normal operations will see it carry four at a time -, Starliner is designed to be used for 10 flights with a 6-month turn-around time. The system was first unveiled in 2010, and was intended to build on Boeing’s experience with NASA and the Department of Defence; with the company confident the vehicle could be flying by 2015 were NASA to fund it forthwith. However, as NASA did not grant a contract (US $4.2 billion) until 2014, the first flight (+ vehicle certification) was pushed back to 2017 – although development work on the vehicle continued between 2010-2014 due to funding via NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) contract.
However, as as I’ve again charted in these pages, the programme has been beset with issues – many of them to Boeing’s complete embarrassment. Over confidence on Boeing’s part saw the initial uncrewed test flight(OFT-1) delayed and delayed, finally taking place in December 2019. Post-launch a number of software errors were found, including an 11-hour offset in the vehicle’s mission clock, which resulted in an over-use of propellants and leaving the vehicle unable to rendezvous with the ISS. To further software errors were detected during the flight, either of which might otherwise have resulted in the complete loss of the vehicle.
As a result, a second Orbital Flight Test was required, to be undertaken at Boeing’s expense. Again the company was bullish about things, stating they could complete it in 2020, despite NASA requesting some significant updates to the docking system (which were further exacerbated by COVID, admittedly hardly Boeing’s fault). As a result, the launch pushed back to August 2021, and things went sideways.
somehow, Boeing managed to assemble the vehicle, ship it to Canaveral Space Force Station, have ULA integrate it into its Atlas V launcher, roll it out to the pad and then realise 13 propulsion system valves were stuck in the wrong position. Rather than scrub the mission and roll the vehicle back for a complete check-out and repair, Boeing then tried to carry out a fix on the launch pad, and when that failed, at the ULA Vertical Integration Facility (VIF). Only after this (somewhat risky) options failed, did the company return the spacecraft to the factory for proper remedial action – only to then enter into an embarrassing attempt to blame-shift with propulsion system supplier Aerojet Rocketdyne.
As a result, OFT-2 did not take place until May 2022, and whilst largely successful, the flight saw issues with both the Orbital Manoeuvring and Attitude Control System (OMACS) and Reaction Control System (RCS). Even so, the flight was seen as meeting all of NASA’s requirements and Starliner was cleared for a crewed test flight (CFT), initially scheduled for early 2023, only for more issues to cause it to be pushed back. Chief among these were problems with the parachute harness linking the capsule to its descent parachute and also – most worryingly – the discovery that flammable tape had been used with electrical wiring in the vehicle (a contributing factor to the tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire in 1967). The need to subject the parachute harness to upgrades and testing, and to go through the capsule inch by inch and replace the flammable tape knocked any hope of a 2023 CFT launch on the head, and it was pushed by to April / May 2024, with May 6th eventually being selected for the launch day.
For the last couple of weeks, final preparations for the launch have been taking place at both Kennedy Space Centre, where the 2-person crew have been in pre-flight quarantine (with the exception of the pre-flight team assigned to them) so as to avoid either contracting any communicable illness which might be passed to the crew on the ISS; and at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, most recently with the roll-out of the Starliner vehicle Calypso atop its Atlas V launch vehicle.
The launch will mark the first used of the human-rated N22 variant of the Atlas V, and the first time any variant of the Atlas family of launch vehicles has lifted humans to space since the days of Project Mercury in the 1960s. The launch will also mark the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral since Apollo 7 (October 1968). The mission is scheduled to last 6 days, with the crew flying the vehicle to a rendezvous and manual docking with the ISS, where they will remain for several days prior to undocking and making a return to Earth and touch down on land (Starliner does not make the more usual – for US crewed capsules – ocean splashdowns, instead using propulsive braking and an airbag, both of which operate in the last second prior to the vehicle landing, to cushion the crew).
Whilst a manual rendezvous and docking with the space station is a major goal for the mission, CFT-1 is also about getting a hands-on view of the vehicle’s capabilities and flight systems, together with an overall assessment of its human factors and handling during dynamic events (e.g. launch, docking, atmospheric re-entry and landing). For this, the crew selected for the mission are highly qualified test pilots turned astronauts in the form of mission Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore, a Captain in the US Navy NASA, and Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams, also a Captain in the US Navy.
Wilmore has spent a total of 178 days in space, flying both the space shuttle (STS-129) in the Pilot’s seat, and on the Russian Soyuz vehicle, which he used in 2014 to reach the ISS as a part of the Expedition 41/42 long duration station crew. As a fleet pilot, he gained over 6,200 hours flying a range of jet fighter and interceptor aircraft and making 663 at-sea landings aboard multiple US aircraft carriers. He also flew 21 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. As a test pilot, he was heavily involved in the certification of the T-45 Goshawk trainer (a US version of the venerable British Hawk trainer) for carrier flight training, and served as an instructor for both US Navy fixed wing aviators and pilots training at the US Air Force Test Pilot School.
Williams served in the US Navy flying rotary aircraft, flying with Helicopter Combat Support squadrons. She flew missions during Operation Desert Shield, and was a senior pilot-in-charge of a detachment of Navy helicopters flying relief and rescue missions following Hurricane Andrew in 1993. She is qualified as a pilot, a test pilot and an instructor pilot on over 30 types of rotary wing aircraft, including helicopters and the likes of the V-22 Osprey.
As a NASA astronaut, she has flown in space no fewer than six times, for a total of 321 days 17 hours in space, 50 hours of which were spent carrying out 7 EVAs outside of the space station, marking her as one of NASA’s top five most experienced EVA astronauts. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space, officially participating in the 2007 Boston Marathon. She did this using a treadmill and bungee cords to hold her in place, completing the run distance in 4 hours 24 minutes – during which time she actually circled the Earth 3 times! She took part in the same marathon again in 2008.
Providing CFT-1 is a success and meets all of its goals, it will clear the way for crewed flight operations using Starliner to commence in 2025. No date has been set for the first operational flight, Starliner-1, but it is due to launch a 4-man crew of NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Michael Fincke, Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui on a planned 6-month stay at the space station. Once operational Starliner will fly annually on ISS missions from 2025 through 2030, splitting operations with Crew Dragon.
Whilst Starliner can – like Crew Dragon – be used for other orbital mission types, Boeing stated recently that it currently has no plans to start operating the craft commercially. However, the company is a partner in the Blue Origin-led Orbital Reef commercial space station project. This is due to commence orbital operations in the late 2020s, and Starliner is the designated crew vehicle for operations and crew flights relating to that station.
China Launches Lunar Sample Return Mission
On Friday, May 3rd, 2024, China launched the sixth of its Chang’e lunar missions – and the second to attempt to return samples of material from the Moon to Earth for study – when a Long March 5 rocket lifted-off from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre at 09:30 UTC.
The mission marks the drawing to a close the third phase of China’s four-phase robotic exploration of the Moon as the country moves gradually closer to its stated goal of landing humans there in the early 2030s. The first phase of this programme – orbit the Moon and study it – was completed by Chang’e 1 (2007) and Chang’e 2 (2010). Phase 2 saw Chang’e 3 (2013) and Chang’e 4 (2019) land on the lunar surface and deploy autonomous rover vehicles. Phase 3 was initiated by Chang’e 5, which landed on the Moon on 1st December 2020 and collected roughly 1,730 grams of surface and sub-surface material which was returned to Earth on December 16th, 2024 and shared amongst China and international research centres of study, and will conclude at the end of the Chang’e 6 mission.
This, it is hoped, will be the first mission to return samples of material gathered from the Moon’s far side. It is due to land on the southern edge of Apollo Basin within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, a gigantic, ancient impact site on the lunar far side. This is the region where both the United States and its partners in Project Artemis and China and its partners in the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) propose as the location where they intend to establish a human presence on the Moon.
Like its predecessor, Chang’e 6 is a four module mission, massing over 8 tonnes. These comprise:
- Orbiter: the primary vehicle for getting to / from the Moon, and specifically charged with returning the samples to the vicinity of Earth.
- Lander: the vehicle responsible for making a soft landing on the Moon and gathering up to around 2kg of samples using a scoop together surface material and a drill capable of gathering samples from up to 2 metres below the surface.
- Ascender: a smaller vehicle carried by the lander, into which the gathered samples will be placed prior to it launching back to lunar orbit to rendezvous with the orbiter. The samples will then be robotically transferred into a sample-return capsule in the orbiter.
- Returner: the vehicle housing the sample-return capsule on the orbiter, and designed to bring the capsule back to Earth. As the orbiter approaches Earth, the Returner will separate and perform a skip re-entry to slow itself, prior to making an actual re-entry into the atmosphere and a soft-landing in Inner Mongolia.
As well as the main goal of collecting samples, the Chang’e-6 lander carries a landing camera, a panoramic camera for imaging its surroundings, and a ground-penetrating radar system to provide insights below the lunar surface. It also carries a lunar mineral spectrometer to assess the composition of the surface. The spacecraft is expected to deploy a Chinese national flag, as done by the Chang’e-5 lander.
Overall, the mission is expected to last 53 days – the majority of which will be taken up by a gentle Earth-Moon transit. As the mission is to the lunar far side, direct communications will be impossible, so ahead of the launch – in March 2024 – China launched the second of its lunar Queqiao (“Magpie Bridge-2”) communications relay satellites into an elliptical orbit around the Moon, where it joins Queqiao-1 in providing communications coverage for the far Chang’e missions, including the upcoming Chang’e 7 (2026) and Chang’e 8 (2028) missions.
Both of the latter will place a three-module mission within the SPA region, each comprising a lander, a rover and a robot hopper. The primary goals for these missions are to act as technology precursors for the initial robotic missions that will take place directly under the ILRS banner, establishing the transport infrastructure and testing technologies (such as in-situ resource utilisation, or ISRU) vital to the development and construction of a crewed outpost on the Moon.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 