NASA Commercial Crew (CCtCap) test milestones

[DocM]

https://spacenews.com/missing-pin-blamed-for-boeing-pad-abort-parachute-anomaly/

 

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The pilot parachute is designed to deploy first, and pull out the main parachute. However, Mulholland said that hardware inspections and photographs taken during "closeout" of the vehicle prior to the test showed that a pin that links the pilot and main parachutes was not inserted properly.

"It's very difficult, when you're connecting that, to verify visually that it's secured properly,” he said, in part because that portion of the parachute system is enclosed in a "protective sheath" intended to limit abrasion but which also makes it difficult to visually confirm the pin is in place. "In this particular case that pin wasn't through the loop, but it wasn’t discovered in initial visual inspections because of that protective sheath."
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[DocM]

Third-party video

 

 

 

[BetaguyGZT]

SpaceX would have been mercilessly tormented if a similar failure had occurred with Dragon 2 during it's Abort Test. We're talking internal lobbying at NASA and Washington. A hold up of no less than two years. Endless managerial and engineering red tape, recertification across-the-board, etc etc etc.

 

This is corruption culture in-work.

 

Disgusting. We all saw what happened. There's no WAY they could call that a success.

[DocM]

Crew Dragon breathes fire tomorrow, Wednesday Nov. 13

 

 

[DocM]

Qapla'!!

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

 

 

 

[BetaguyGZT]

Sweet. This is where they were when the anomaly occurred.

[DocM]

Crew Dragon static fire Slo-Mo video

 

 

[DocM]

These preps included crew training.

 

 

[DocM]

Crew Dragon schedule alert!!

 

From SpaceFlightNow...

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

[DocM]

Oopsie...

 

https://spacenews.com/boeing-takes-410-million-charge-to-cover-potential-additional-commercial-crew-test-flight/

 

Quote

Boeing takes $410 million charge to cover potential additional commercial crew test flight

 

WASHINGTON — Boeing is taking a $410 million charge to its earnings to cover a potential additional uncrewed test flight of its CST-100 Starliner, although company officials say there’s no decision yet about whether such a flight is necessary.

The company said in its fourth quarter earnings release Jan. 29 that it was taking the charge “primarily to provision for an additional uncrewed mission for the Commercial Crew program, performance and mix.” It noted that NASA was still reviewing data from the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission in December that was cut short, without a docking at the International Space Station, by a timer problem.
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[DocM]

Ferchrissake... 😵

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/starliner-faced-catastrophic-failure-before-software-bug-found/

 

Quote

Starliner faced catastrophic failure before software bug found

During its quarterly meeting on Thursday, NASA's Aersopace Safety Advisory Panel dropped some significant news about a critical commercial crew test flight. The panel revealed that Boeing's Starliner may have been lost during a December mission had a software error not been found and fixed while the vehicle was in orbit.

The software issue was identified during testing on the ground after Starliner's launch, said panel member Paul Hill, a former flight director and former director of mission operations at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The problem would have interfered with the service module's (SM) separation from the Starliner capsule.

"While this anomaly was corrected in flight, if it had gone uncorrected it would have led to erroneous thruster firing and uncontrolled motion during SM separation for deorbit, with the potential for catastrophic spacecraft failure," Hill said during the meeting.

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The safety panel also recommended that NASA conduct "an even broader" assessment of Boeing's Systems Engineering and Integration processes. Only after these assessments, Hill said, should NASA determine whether the Starliner spacecraft will conduct a second, uncrewed flight test into orbit before astronauts fly on board.
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[anthdci]

6 hours ago, DocM said:

Ferchrissake... 😵

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/starliner-faced-catastrophic-failure-before-software-bug-found/

 

there is no way I'd be a passenger on it until more testing has been done successfully.

[DocM]

The Crew Dragon for DM-2 is at the Cape...

 

 

 

[DocM]

 

 

[DocM]

Crew Dragon DM-2: late May, 2020

 

https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-spacex-invite-media-to-first-crew-launch-to-station-from-america-since-2011

 

 

Quote

March 18, 2020

 

MEDIA ADVISORY M20-041

NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to First Crew Launch to Station from America Since 2011
 
Media accreditation is open for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 flight test, which will send two astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. This mission will be the return of human spaceflight launch capabilities to the United States and the first launch of American astronauts aboard an American rocket and spacecraft since the final space shuttle mission on July 8, 2011.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch Crew Dragon, with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley aboard the spacecraft, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA and SpaceX are currently targeting no earlier than mid-to-late May for launch.

This second demonstration mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft is another end-to-end flight test of SpaceX’s human spaceflight system, which will include launch, docking, splashdown and recovery operations. It is the final flight test of the system before SpaceX is certified to carry out operational crew flights to and from the space station for NASA.

Media accreditations deadlines are as follows:

·      International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4 p.m. EDT Friday, April 17.
·      U.S. media must apply by 4 p.m. Friday, April 24.
All accreditation requests should be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

NASA is proactively monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation as it evolves. The agency will continue to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency’s chief health and medical officer and communicate any updates that may impact mission planning or media access, as they become available.

For questions about accreditation, please email 

ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. 

For other questions, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at 321-867-2468.

Reporters with special logistics requests for Kennedy, such as space for satellite trucks, trailers, tents, electrical connections or work spaces, must contact Tiffany Fairley at 

tiffany.l.fairley@nasa.gov by Friday, April 24.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

-end-



NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarize themselves with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will transport them to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Their upcoming flight test is known as Demo-2, short for Demonstration Mission 2. The Crew Dragon will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credits: NASA

 

 

[DocM]

US Crew Vehicle 1 (USCV-1) crew

 

First operational Crew Dragon mission

 

Mike Hopkins (Commander; NASA, USA) 

 

Vic Glover (Pilot; NASA, USA)

 

Soichi Noguchi (Mission Specialist 1; JAXA, Japan)

 

Shannon Walker (Mission Specialist 2; NASA, USA)

 

[Skiver Veteran]

Boeing Statement on Starliner's Next Flight

 

https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2020-04-06-Boeing-Statement-on-Starliners-Next-Flight

Quote

ARLINGTON, Va., April 6, 2020— The Boeing Company is honored to be a provider for the Commercial Crew mission.  We are committed to the safety of the men and women who design, build and ultimately will fly on the Starliner just as we have on every crewed mission to space.  We have chosen to refly our Orbital Flight Test to demonstrate the quality of the Starliner system. Flying another uncrewed flight will allow us to complete all flight test objectives and evaluate the performance of the second Starliner vehicle at no cost to the taxpayer.  We will then proceed to the tremendous responsibility and privilege of flying astronauts to the International Space Station.

 

[DocM]

10 hours ago, Skiver said:

Boeing Statement on Starliner's Next Flight

 

https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2020-04-06-Boeing-Statement-on-Starliners-Next-Flight

 

It's not like they have a choice - NASA was pretty ticked off after the very public OFT-1 Charlie Foxtrot.

[DocM]

 

 

 

 

[Skiver Veteran]

On 4/7/2020 at 8:55 PM, DocM said:

It's not like they have a choice - NASA was pretty ticked off after the very public OFT-1 Charlie Foxtrot.

I read  that they hadn't officially been told they HAD to re-test but offered Boeing the opportunity to make the right decision for themselves before throwing in their opinion.

 

Granted I think any idiot could see Nasa wouldn't have ever let them proceed to manned tests.

[BetaguyGZT]

Well this isn't altogether unexpected ...

 

New document reveals significant fall from grace for Boeing’s space program

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/04/a-nasa-analysis-of-boeings-lunar-cargo-delivery-plan-is-very-unflattering/

 

Ouch!

[DocM]

That document was written by  astronaut Ken Bowersox,

 

STS-50, STS-61, STS-73, STS-82, STS-113, Soyuz TMA-1 (down)

 

He has also excluded Boeing from bidding on future Gateway cargo awards. None. Zip. 

 

Boeing needs to deliver a 100% perfect Starliner OFT-2 flight or they'll be so screwed....

 

As for SpaceX's Dragon XL winning cargo bid,

 

Quote

SpaceX provided, by far, the highest amount of pressurized and  unpressurized cargo capability of any of the offerors, significantly exceeding the minimum cargo amounts levied by the RFP. This is true with both  SpaceX’s fast transit and slow transit concepts of operation. The SEB assigned this as a significant strength. (Significant Strength #1).  In addition, SpaceX provides for a cargo packing density that is significantly lower than the reference density of 290kg/m3 (standard for ISS cargo missions). This large usable volume will allow for cargo to be packed to optimize crew accessibility and ease of use instead of optimizing around cargo density. SpaceX’s approach allows for tremendous flexibility in manifesting the maximum amount of cargo. SpaceX’s approach to cargo design within the pressurized volume is equally impressive. The SEB assigned this as a significant strength. (Significant Strength #2).

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SpaceX’s approach also allows for a mission extension very late in the mission with very little lead-time needed. (Strength #8). This provides flexibility in overall mission design should NASA need it. SpaceX also has an approach that exceeds requirements by having dual fault tolerance in several critical systems and single fault tolerances in others. (Strength #2). Other benefits to SpaceX’s proposal include enhanced battery capability that allows for higher performance of its spacecraft during eclipse periods when its solar arrays are not charging. (Strength #3). Finally, SpaceX offered to have its safety-critical software independently verified and validated as part of its baseline service. (Strength #7). Third party independent verification and validation (IV&V) is a beneficial feature that reduces the risk of catastrophic failures due to software. When combined, these numerous strengths will result in benefits to NASA, over and above the two significant strengths described earlier.

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

May 27

 

 

 

 

 

...about time.