CST-100

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Boeing Space‏Подлинная учетная запись @BoeingSpace 51 мин. назад

Testing our "high Q".
#Starliner parachutes performed under extreme pressure for the second time this week. Thanks, @AirborneSysNA, @NASA and @ypg_az for helping us prove the safety and reliability of our reusable system through high-pressure inflation (high Q) testing.

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https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/06/28/starliner-parachute-system-finishes-two-tests-in-one-week/

Starliner Parachute System Finishes Two Tests in One Week

Marie Lewis
Posted Jun 28, 2019 at 1:40 pm



NASA and Boeing completed two different tests of the CST-100 Starliner parachute system this week at two different locations in the desert of the western United States. The tests were part of a series of parachute tests providing valuable data needed to prove the system is safe to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.


A full-scale CST-100 Starliner test article, known as a boiler plate, lands safely June 24 at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Photo credit: Boeing

The first test, conducted June 24 at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, used a full-scale Starliner test article, known as a boiler plate, designed to simulate the actual spacecraft. This test featured a double failure scenario meaning one of the parachute system's two drogue parachutes and one of the three main parachutes were both intentionally disabled to test how the remaining parachutes handled the additional loads during deployment and descent.

The next test occurred June 26 using a dart-shaped test device meant to function as a Starliner weight simulant. The device was released from a C-17 aircraft above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. This was a "high Q" test, meaning the parachutes were intentionally inflated at higher pressures than they are expected to see during missions.


Parachutes deploy over the U.S Army's Proving Ground on June 26 in a Boeing CST-100 Starliner parachute system test. Photo credit: U.S. Army

In both instances, the Starliner test articles landed safely, and the joint NASA and Boeing teams currently are reviewing the new data.

Boeing is targeting an uncrewed Orbital Flight Test to the space station this summer, which will test the full end-to-end capabilities of the system from launch to landing. The uncrewed test will be follow by its Crew Flight Test to the space station. Starliner will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

As commercial crew providers Boeing and SpaceX begin to make regular flights to the space station, NASA will continue to advance its mission to go beyond low-Earth orbit and establish a human presence on the Moon with the ultimate goal of sending astronauts to Mars.

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http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/07/15/ferguson-starliner-flight-test-in-september-looking-good/
Ferguson: Starliner Flight Test in September "Looking Good"
 July 15, 2019  Doug Messier  

News 6 interviewed Boeing's Chris Ferguson on Saturday about the status of the company's effort to launch its Starliner commercial crew vehicle to the International Space Station (ISS) this year:

"We have an uncrewed test flight here in September. It's looking very good. We were working late into the night last night doing test work, 24/7 operations," Ferguson said. "We are in the final push and I'm optimistic that you're going to see humans return to space from the Space Coast within the next several months. It's been a long time."
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After the uncrewed test flight, Boeing will also need to complete a launch abort test with the spacecraft before it can launch astronauts. During the abort test, ULA will launch the capsule and trigger an abort, which will send the capsule away from the rocket testing the system designed to carry the astronauts to safety.
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https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/07/31/astronauts-and-ground-teams-put-emergency-escape-procedures-to-the-test/

Astronauts and Ground Teams Put Emergency Escape Procedures to the Test

Anna Heiney
Posted Jul 31, 2019 at 9:33 am


An emergency medical technician cares for an astronaut with simulated injuries during a joint emergency escape and triage exercise led by NASA, along with Boeing and United Launch Alliance, at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on July 24, 2019. The simulation is part of a series in preparation for upcoming crew flights to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA led a joint emergency escape and triage simulation with Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA) on July 24 at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida in preparation for upcoming crew flights to the International Space Station. The exercise ranged fr om astronauts and support teams quickly escaping the launch pad to emergency personnel practicing rescue and life support procedures focused on the safety of the launch site teams.


Medical and fire-rescue personnel park ambulances and set up a decontamination and triage area for the joint emergency escape and triage simulation.

In the event of an emergency on launch day, astronauts and support teams would need to exit the launch pad as quickly as possible. The exercise was designed to validate the escape procedures from the crew access tower – the nearly 200-foot-tall structure astronauts will ascend to the same level as the spacecraft on top of the rocket – to a pre-staged medical location a safe distance away from the launch pad. The second half of the rehearsal included the rescue teams that would conduct initial triage for the crew and ground team.

NASA astronauts Josh Cassada, currently in training for the second flight with crew aboard Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, and Eric Boe, along with astronaut candidate Jasmin Moghbeli, served as flight crew for the simulation.

During the exercise, the astronauts and support teams put on portable respirators and made their way to the emergency egress system – a commercial, off-the-shelf zip line modified and constructed as a safety measure for human spaceflight – for escape. The emergency system is on the same level of the crew access tower as the crew access arm, the bridge astronauts walk across to enter the Starliner. The launch teams, secured in seats, descended the tower to the pad perimeter below.


Wearing portable respirators, astronauts and personnel with simulated injuries exit an armored vehicle during the simulation.

Next, using mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, known as MRAPs, the crew members drove just under a mile north to a helipad, wh ere flight surgeons and the emergency medical services teams waited with ambulances and a decontamination vehicle. Astronauts evacuating from a pad emergency may come into contact with hazardous substances, such as fuel from the rocket or spacecraft, and must be decontaminated to allow medical personnel to safely treat them. In a true emergency, anyone injured would then be transported via helicopter to area hospitals.

Personnel from Kennedy Space Center emergency medical services, pad rescue teams and environmental health, along with CCAFS fire and rescue and the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing worked in tandem with NASA, Boeing and ULA to whisk the astronauts to safety – and, in the process, test necessary procedures and equipment, while providing new team members valuable experience.

The simulation is one of several NASA has conducted with our commercial crew partners, Boeing and SpaceX, in preparation to launch astronauts from American soil. NASA's Commercial Crew Program continues to place astronaut safety at the forefront of preparations for human spaceflight.

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Antonia Jaramillo‏ Подлинная учетная запись @AntoniaJ_11 50 мин. назад
As for the dates for #Boeing #Starliner orbital flight test and pad-abort, teams are currently targeting first week of September for pad-abort test and orbital flight test for end of September or early October. Goal is still to have first crewed flight test by the end of the year

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 Christopher Ferguson‏ Подлинная учетная запись @Astro_Ferg 3 ч. назад
Met the pilot for the 'un-crewed' test flight. Brave, steely-eyed, ice running through veins....and lots of instrumentation. Body-double will make sure it's safe for real bodies. Now for the name...

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 Julia‏ @julia_bergeron 24 мин. назад
Our first stop is to visit the CFT: Crewed Flight Test #AtlasV booster. You may remember it being delivered by the Delta Mariner. Launching soon- December 2019. #ULASocial @CoastScla

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https://tass.ru/kosmos/6763255

14 АВГ, 19:04
Полет корабля Starliner без экипажа перенесли на сентябрь

В РКК "Энергия" отметили, что первый пилотируемый полет запланирован на ноябрь 2019 года

МОСКВА, 14 августа. /ТАСС/. Первый полет космического пилотируемого корабля Starliner компании Boeing без экипажа перенесен на сентябрь. Об этом говорится в ежеквартальном отчете Ракетно-космической корпорации (РКК) "Энергия", опубликованном в среду.

"Испытательный беспилотный полет корабля Starliner (CST-100) компании Boeing (со стыковкой с МКС) перенесен с августа 2019 года на сентябрь 2019 года", - говорится в отчете.

В РКК уточнили, что первый пилотируемый полет запланирован на ноябрь 2019 года. При этом, отметили в корпорации, "существует вероятность дальнейшего переноса запусков кораблей обеих компаний [в том числе Crew Dragon компании SpaceX] в связи с необходимостью проведения испытаний САС [система аварийного спасения] на участке максимального скоростного напора и парашютной системы перед началом штатной эксплуатации".

Спойлер

В 2019 году возможны полеты кораблей к МКС в беспилотном режиме, считают в РКК "Энергия".

С 2011 года к Международной космической станции из пилотируемых кораблей летают только российские корабли "Союз". Они доставляют российских, американских и членов экипажа из других стран на МКС. В США новые космические корабли для пилотируемых полетов разработали компании SpaceX и Boeing. Корабль Crew Dragon компании SpaceX впервые был запущен к МКС 2 марта и пристыковался к станции 3 марта.

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 Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 50 мин. назад
Peter McGrath, Boeing, at AIAA Prop & Energy Forum: Starliner Orbital Flight Test scheduled for October, pad abort test at White Sands "more than likely" to follow a short time after OFT.

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https://spacenews.com/commercial-crew-providers-prepare-for-fall-test-flights/

Commercial crew providers prepare for fall test flights
by Jeff Foust — August 20, 2019


Boeing plans to perform an uncrewed orbital flight of its Starliner (left) in October, while SpaceX remains hopeful it can launch astronauts on a crewed flight test before the end of the year. Credit: Boeing/SpaceX

WASHINGTON — Boeing and SpaceX said Aug. 19 that they expect to carry out critical test flights of their commercial crew systems this fall, with SpaceX still hopeful of launching astronauts to the International Space Station this year.

During a panel discussion at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Propulsion and Energy Forum in Indianapolis, Peter McGrath, Boeing's director of global sales and marketing for space exploration, said his company was in the final phases of preparations for an uncrewed flight test of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to the ISS, known as the Orbital Flight Test.

"We're making real good progress on getting the Orbital Flight Test vehicle to the pad and ready to go," he said. "We're heading towards an Orbital Flight Test in October."

That uncrewed flight would be followed shortly thereafter by a pad abort test of the spacecraft's launch escape system, he said. However, the timing for the Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann, and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, is up to the agency. "We can say we're ready, but until NASA's ready we won't be flying it," McGrath said.

He said Boeing had completed testing on various other aspects of Starliner, including its parachute system and static fire tests of the launch abort thrusters on the spacecraft's service module. A valve problem with those thrusters last year delayed work on the vehicle, he said, but the problem has been fixed and subsequent tests in recent months verified it was working properly. "The only thing we have left is the Orbital Flight test, pad abort test and crewed flight."

SpaceX flew its uncrewed test flight of its Crew Dragon spacecraft to the ISS last March, a mission it calls Demo-1. However, both an in-flight abort test and the Demo-2 crewed flight test were delayed after the Demo-1 spacecraft, being prepared for the in-flight abort test, was destroyed during preparations for a static-fire test in April at Cape Canaveral.

In July, SpaceX announced that the most likely cause of that accident was a check valve that allowed nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer to leak into a helium pressurization system, which then propelled it back into the valve, triggering an explosion. At the time, though, the company said it was still working through other potential causes of the failure.

That investigation is now nearly complete. "We're almost ready to tie a bow around it," said Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of build and flight reliability at SpaceX, on the panel, as the investigation reviews a few final parts of the "fault tree" of potential causes. "Overall, I'm optimistic we can get this done in the next month."

The hardware fixes, such as replacing the faulty valves, are "relatively easy" to perform, he said. He estimated that the in-flight abort test would now take place in October or November. "Right after that, hopefully this year, we'll have the Demo-2 flight," a crewed test flight to the ISS with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.

Development of Crew Dragon, along with ongoing launches of SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, are taking place in parallel with work on the company's Starship next-generational reusable launch vehicle. Koenigsmann said that the company was planning "more progressive hops" of prototype vehicles at its South Texas test site. "Then we're targeting an early orbital launch as soon as possible," he added, noting that those efforts "are challenges to us as engineers and to us as a company from [SpaceX founder] Elon [Musk] directly, basically, and people take this very serious and work very hard to make sure we can fly as soon as possible."

He declined, though, to give a specific schedule for those Starship tests. "I want to be a little bit cautious here and just say I can guarantee you these people work as fast as they can," he said. "We will beat any other time schedule that's out there."

"One thing we want to do is we clearly want to innovate, and it's hard to innovate in this industry," he said. Having Starship in development while flying Falcon and Dragon is one way to do so. "I feel like it makes a very healthy company to keep, on one side, a reliable product line running, and on the other side an innovative branch or an innovative department, basically, that builds a next-generation vehicle."

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https://ria.ru/20190821/1557724380.html

Источник: Boeing отложила испытательные запуски кораблей Starliner к МКС
03:07 21.08.2019

МОСКВА, 21 авг - РИА Новости. Запуск к Международной космической станции (МКС) американского беспилотного корабля Starliner разработки компании Boeing перенесен с 17 сентября на 6 октября, а пилотируемого - с 30 ноября на 30 декабря, сообщил РИА Новости в источник в ракетно-космической отрасли.

В 2011 году была выведена из эксплуатации американская многоразовая пилотируемая транспортная система Space Shuttle. После этого экипажи на МКС доставляют только российские корабли "Союз". В США для доставки астронавтов разработаны новые пилотируемые корабли: Crew Dragon - компанией SpaceX и Starliner - компанией Boeing.

Ранее полет беспилотного Starliner планировался на 17 сентября, а до этого - на 17 августа. Пилотируемый корабль должен был отправиться 30 ноября, а до этого стоял в планах на 1 ноября.

"В настоящее время испытательный полет корабля Starliner без экипажа должен начаться 6 октября, а испытательный полет с экипажем - 30 декабря", - сказал собеседник агентства.

По его словам, эти даты предварительные и не исключены дальнейшие отсрочки запусков.

Ранее сообщалось, что в экипаж первого пилотируемого Starliner войдут астронавты НАСА Майкл Финк и Николь Аунапу Манн, а также астронавт Boeing Кристофер Фергюсон.

После успешных испытательного беспилотного и пилотируемого полетов корабль будет сертифицирован НАСА для выполнения штатных полетов с экипажами на МКС.

Корабли Starliner будут запускаться ракетой-носителем Atlas-5 с космодрома на мысе Канаверал, на первой ступени которой используется российский двигатель РД-180 разработки НПО Энергомаш.

[Чебурашка]

Оказывается, Атлас выводит Старлайнер на суборбитальную траектории, и корабль сам скругляет орбиту.. О, как..

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/26/boeing-spacex-aim-for-more-commercial-crew-test-flights-this-fall/

Boeing, SpaceX aim for more commercial crew test flights this fall
August 26, 2019 | Stephen Clark


Technicians at Boeing's satellite production facility in El Segundo, California, position a CST-100 Starliner inside an environmental test chamber for testing earlier this year. This specific Starliner vehicle will fly on Boeing's Crew Flight Test, the first Starliner mission with astronauts on-board. Credit: Boeing

Boeing's Starliner crew capsule could take off in October on its first unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, a company official said recently, while SpaceX finishes up the investigation into the explosion of its Crew Dragon spacecraft during a ground test earlier this year.

But schedules for the first crew missions with the new Boeing and SpaceX vehicles remain murky.

NASA and Boeing officials have not announced a target launch date for the Starliner's first space mission — designated the Orbital Flight Test, or OFT — but officials said the unpiloted test flight is currently on track for liftoff from Cape Canaveral some time in October.

"We're heading towards an Orbital Flight Test here in October," said Peter McGrath, director of global sales and marketing for Boeing's human space exploration program, said Aug. 19. "More than likely, the pad abort test will happen shortly after that, and then we'll fly the Crew Flight Test vehicle, primarily when NASA's ready."

A Boeing spokesperson said Friday that the October timeframe remains the target for launch of the Starliner's Orbital Flight Test.

The three-flight test sequence will verify the Starliner's design and operations scheme before NASA approves the Boeing-built capsule for regular crew rotation missions to the International Space Station.

"That's the one nice thing about crewed flight is we can say we're ready, but until NASA's ready, we won't be flying it," McGrath said Aug. 19 at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Propulsion and Energy Forum and Exposition. "These (target schedules) are all based on when they're safe to fly, not when we're driving to flight."

The Orbital Flight Test, the first in the test flight sequence, will take off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral. It's the next launch on ULA's manifest, following two successful Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rocket launches earlier this month.

The Starliner spacecraft, flying without astronauts on-board, will dock with the space station after launching from Cape Canaveral.

The capsule is scheduled to stay at the station less than a week, then return to an airbag-cushioned landing under parachutes in the Western United States at one of five potential landing sites in New Mexico, Arizona, California and Utah. Boeing has two landing site locations available at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the company's preferred return site for the Starliner test flights.

The Starliner's Orbital Flight Test has many of the same objectives of SpaceX's first Crew Dragon demonstration flight to the station in March.

NASA awarded contracts in 2014 to Boeing and SpaceX — valued at $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively — for the development of new U.S.-built commercial crew ships to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, ending U.S. reliance on Russian Soyuz vehicles for the task.


A full-scale CST-100 Starliner test article sits on a dune at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in Mexico following a parachute drop test in June. Credit: Boeing

White Sands will also host the Starliner pad abort test, in which Boeing engineers will demonstrate the spacecraft's ability to escape an emergency on the launch pad. The Starliner has four liquid-fueled launch abort engines clustered on the bottom of the craft to push the capsule off its launcher, giving crews an escape switch before and during liftoff.

Boeing's pad abort test at White Sands is a critical precursor to the Starliner's first piloted mission, which will carry Boeing test pilot and former NASA space shuttle commander Chris Ferguson, and NASA crew members Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann to the space station.

After launching some time late this year or in early 2020, Ferguson, Fincke and Mann will live on the station for up to six months before returning to Earth in their Starliner spacecraft to complete the program's Crew Flight Test, or CFT. Assuming the test flights go well, NASA will certify the Starliner for operational crew rotation flights to the station.

"This is going to be an exciting end of the year with a lot of activity going for us," McGrath said. "We are flying a true operational vehicle up to station for our test flight coming up in October. That vehicle will be refurbished and used on the first crew flight mission (after the Crew Test Flight), so it is a full flight article.

"We test like we fly," McGrath said. "So what you're seeing (on the first test flight) is the real thing of what we will fly crew on."

With the Aug. 8 launch of a U.S. Air Force communications satellite now behind them, ULA teams are ready to stack the Atlas 5 rocket for the Starliner's first test flight in the coming weeks inside the Vertical Integration Facility at pad 41.

Ground crews will first erect the Atlas 5's bronze core stage, powered by a Russian-made RD-180 main engine, then install two Aerojet Rocketdyne-built solid rocket boosters to the vehicle. A Centaur upper stage fitted with two Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engines will be hoisted atop the Atlas 5 before the Starliner crew capsule arrives at the launch pad integration building.

The Atlas 5 configuration designed for Boeing's Starliner crew capsule features several changes from earlier Atlas 5 models. The modifications include the dual-engine Centaur stage, an independent avionics package to detect an in-flight emergency and trigger an abort, and a new aerodynamic shape without a payload shroud at the top of the launcher.

According to ULA, the Atlas 5 will release the Starliner spacecraft on a 112-mile-high (181-kilometer) suborbital trajectory, just shy of the velocity needed to enter a stable orbit around Earth. After separating from the rocket, the Starliner's own engines, mounted on the ship's service module, will boost the spacecraft into orbit to begin the trek to the International Space Station.

The suborbital trajectory is unusual for a satellite launch, but it is similar to the technique used by the space shuttle. The shuttle's three main engines, fed by cryogenic propellants from an external fuel tank, accelerated the orbiter into space to a speed just shy of the velocity required to enter orbit.

After jettisoning the expendable external tank, the shuttles fired their in-space maneuvering engines around a half-hour after launch to enter orbit. Otherwise, the shuttles would have cut short their missions and re-entered the atmosphere.

The Starliner will follow a similar launch profile.

"The Atlas 5 is flying a very unique trajectory for us," said Josh Barrett, a Boeing spokesperson. "ULA usually flies the Atlas 5 on a steep trajectory to use the powerful booster engine and any added solids to gain as much altitude as quickly as possible before leveling off and then letting the incredibly efficient Centaur push the rest of the way to the desired orbit.

"With Starliner, the Atlas 5 is flying a much flatter and throttled back trajectory for two main reasons," Barrett said in response to questions from Spaceflight Now. "The first is if we abort on a steep trajectory, we would have the potential to bounce off the atmosphere, so this trajectory allows a safe abort at every point through ascent. The second is it helps keep g-loading on crew members to a minimum on ascent."

Starliner crews will experience forces up to 3.5 Gs on launch, according to Boeing officials.

Barrett said Boeing does not publicly disclose mass numbers for the Starliner spacecraft. SpaceX also did not provide the launch weight for the Crew Dragon spacecraft during its first test flight to the space station in March.

Mass figures — either exact or approximate — for most commercial satellites and human spaceflight vehicles are typically released by their owners or by government agencies.


Boeing test pilot Chris Ferguson (center) tweeted this picture with NASA crewmates Nicole Mann (left) and Mike Fincke. "There's no such thing as a bad day at work when training for a #Starliner spaceflight," Ferguson tweeted Aug. 21. Credit: Boeing via Chris Ferguson

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https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/testing-and-training-on-the-boeing-starliner

Sept. 10, 2019

Testing and Training on the Boeing Starliner



NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, a veteran of two stays aboard the International Space Station and Space Shuttle mission STS-134, works through a check list inside a mockup of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner during a simulation at NASA's Johnson Space Center on Aug. 21, 2019. Fincke, along with NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, will launch to the Space Station aboard the Starliner during its first crewed flight test.

Starliner will launch as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the American aerospace industry to develop and operate a new generation of spacecraft and launch systems capable of carrying crews to low-Earth orbit and the Space Station. Commercial transportation to and from the station will provide expanded utility, additional research time and broader opportunities of discovery on the orbiting laboratory. The station is critical for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight necessary for the journey to Mars. By encouraging industry to provide human transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit, NASA can expand its focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions.

Image Credit: NASA/James Blair

Last Updated: Sept. 10, 2019
Editor: Yvette Smith

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https://ria.ru/20190912/1558593119.html

Источник: запуск к МКС корабля Starliner отложили еще на три недели
03:25 12.09.2019

МОСКВА, 12 сен - РИА Новости. Отправка на Международную космическую станцию (МКС) первого американского корабля Starliner без экипажа перенесена с 6 на 28 октября, не исключена дальнейшая отсрочка запуска, сообщил РИА Новости в источник в российской ракетно-космической отрасли.

В августе другой источник в отрасли сообщил РИА Новости об отсрочке старта беспилотного Starliner с 17 сентября до 6 октября. До этого запуск намечался на 17 августа.

"Теперь старт корабля Starliner без экипажа планируется на 28 октября", - сказал собеседник агентства, добавив, что эта дата предварительная и не исключена дальнейшая отсрочка запуска.

Ранее сообщалось о переносе старта первого пилотируемого Starliner - с 30 ноября на 30 декабря. В его экипаж войдут астронавты НАСА Майкл Финк и Николь Аунапу Манн, а также астронавт Boeing Кристофер Фергюсон.

В 2011 году была выведена из эксплуатации американская многоразовая пилотируемая транспортная система Space Shuttle. После этого экипажи на МКС доставляют только российские корабли "Союз". В США для отправки астронавтов на станцию разработаны новые пилотируемые корабли: Crew Dragon - компанией SpaceX и Starliner - компанией Boeing.

После успешных испытательного беспилотного и пилотируемого полетов корабль будет сертифицирован НАСА для выполнения штатных полетов с экипажами на МКС.

Корабли Starliner будут запускаться с космодрома на мысе Канаверал ракетой-носителем Atlas-5, на первой ступени которой используется российский двигатель РД-180 разработки НПО Энергомаш.

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[azvoz]

tnt22 написал:
 Отправка на Международную космическую станцию (МКС) первого американского корабля Starliner без экипажа перенесена с 6 на 28 октября, не исключена дальнейшая отсрочка запуска

Получается пилотируемый полет Старлайнера окончательно ушел на 2020 год.
А как же обещание Пенса 3 недели назад?

[tnt22]

NASA Commercial Crew‏ Подлинная учетная запись @Commercial_Crew[/COLOR] 7 ч.7 часов назад

.@NASA and @BoeingSpace rehearsed landing and removing astronauts from the #Starliner capsule in preparation for human spaceflight missions to the @Space_Station.

Astronauts Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke, and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson participated in the exercise.

[tnt22]

NASA HQ PHOTO‏ Подлинная учетная запись @nasahqphoto[/COLOR] 12 сент.

NASA astronauts @AstroDuke, @AstroIronMike and @Boeing astronaut @Astro_Ferg along with teams from @NASA, @BoeingSpace and @WSMissileRange perform landing rehearsals in New Mexico.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGTbjua

[tnt22]

https://ria.ru/20190913/1558638986.html

НАСА провело учебную эвакуацию экипажа "вернувшегося из космоса" Starliner
07:29 13.09.2019

ВАШИНГТОН, 13 сен – РИА Новости. НАСА провело учебную эвакуацию экипажа из макета капсулы новейшего космического корабля Starliner, сымитировав условия прибытия корабля после воображаемого пилотируемого полета, заявило ведомство в своем Twitter-аккаунте.

Как сообщило НАСА, специалисты ведомства и компании Boeing, которая строит корабль по контракту, "отработали шаги по обнаружению аппарата Starliner и безопасному извлечению экипажа". Испытание прошло еще в среду, однако сообщили о нем позднее.

НАСА также опубликовало снимки прошедших учений, на них виден "приземлившийся" на полигоне макет спусковой капсулы корабля, парашют и спасательная техника.

В августе аналогичную операцию по учебному поиску корабля и извлечению экипажа НАСА провело для принадлежащего компании SpaceX новейшего пилотируемого корабля Crew Dragon. В отличие от Starliner, корабль Crew Dragon совершает посадку на воду.

Компания Boeing наряду со SpaceX создает пилотируемый корабль по контракту с НАСА для возобновления США самостоятельной доставки американских астронавтов на МКС. В отличие от SpaceX, которая в беспилотном режиме запустила корабль Crew Dragon в марте 2019 года, Boeing пока не испытывал свой новый корабль Starliner в реальном полете. Ранее планировалось, что его первый беспилотный рейс состоится в августе текущего года, но сейчас дата его не определена. В США рассчитывают, что первые пилотируемые запуски обоих кораблей достоятся до конца 2019 года, но точных сроков не называется.

[свернуть]

Прим. Спусковую капсулу не знаю, спускаемый аппарат - знаю. Чюдны дела твоя, Господи...

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/09/16/nasa-boeing-perform-landing-and-recovery-rehearsals-in-new-mexico/

NASA, Boeing Perform Landing and Recovery Rehearsals in New Mexico

Anna Heiney
Posted Sep 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm


Teams from NASA, Boeing and the White Sands Missile Range, rehearse landing and crew extraction from Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, which will be used to carry humans to the International Space Station, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2019 at the White Sands Missile Range outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Boeing, NASA and the U.S. Army conducted exercises, known as mission dress rehearsals, for Boeing's upcoming CST-100 Starliner missions to the International Space Station. This series of rehearsals at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico focused on the landing and recovery aspect of Starliner's mission, and was one of three of Boeing's formal dress rehearsals that took place over the last couple of weeks as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Unlike any other American-made orbital crew capsule, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is designed to land on land, and is expected to touch down at one of five potential landing zones in the western United States, including two at White Sands, New Mexico. During last week's integrated rehearsal, teams practiced recovering Starliner and extricating crews in more than a half dozen different landing scenarios covering both the upcoming uncrewed and crewed test flights. The rehearsals included all of the recovery personnel and equipment necessary to locate, safe and cool the spacecraft prior to opening the hatch.

Astronauts Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann of NASA and Chris Ferguson from Boeing observed a few of the exercises to better understand what will be happening outside Starliner before ground teams can open the hatch and officially welcome them back to Earth. During the final "run-for-record," obstacles were introduced in order to simulate an emergency scenario, in which the team succeeded at locating the Starliner and opening the hatch in less than an hour.


The teams worked through the steps necessary to safe the vehicle and get future crew members out of the Starliner to return home. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Earlier rehearsals included simulating a Starliner launch and ascent through docking to the space station, as well as undocking from station through landing the spacecraft on land in the western United States.

These exercises are a necessary step in preparing the teams for all aspects of a mission from launch to landing. This series of rehearsals has taken place ahead of Boeing's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test to the space station, in which the Starliner will launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

As commercial crew providers Boeing and SpaceX begin to make regular flights to the space station, NASA will continue to advance its mission to go beyond low-Earth orbit and establish a human presence on the Moon with the ultimate goal of sending astronauts to Mars.