After a disappointing setback on Saturday, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is gearing up for two more opportunities this week to achieve its historic first crewed flight. NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have opted to postpone further attempts until Wednesday at the earliest, following a glitch that led to the scrubbing of Saturday’s launch.
Originally slated for liftoff on Saturday afternoon, the highly anticipated mission was halted due to a last-minute issue with a ground computer system critical for the rocket’s launch. Although there were discussions about rescheduling the launch for today, June 2, after assessing the problem, the decision was made to defer until the next available windows on June 5 or 6.
Saturday’s aborted launch was not attributed to any fault in the Starliner craft itself, but rather to an automatic hold issued by the ground launch sequencer. Tory Bruno, the president and CEO of ULA, explained in a press conference that the issue stemmed from a problem in verifying the launch sequencer’s redundancy. Despite the sequencer’s triple redundancy, one of the computers exhibited a delay during the system health check moments before liftoff, prompting the automatic hold.
NASA emphasized the need for additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue, prompting the decision to delay further launch attempts. While the launch window reopens on June 5, no specific liftoff time has been announced yet. However, if Starliner fails to launch by June 6, it faces another delay of at least 10 days, as reported by ArsTechnica. During this period, the ULA team would need to replace the batteries of the Atlas V rocket.
The stakes remain high as anticipation builds for Starliner’s maiden crewed flight, with NASA, Boeing, and ULA diligently working to ensure a successful mission. The upcoming launch attempts represent crucial opportunities for the spacecraft to embark on its inaugural journey into space, marking a significant milestone in human space exploration.
A meticulously planned mission to usher Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft into orbit was halted just minutes before liftoff due to a computer malfunction, frustrating NASA’s plans for its commercial spaceflight program. The countdown to the launch of the Atlas V rocket, tasked with propelling the Starliner and its crew of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, was automatically paused less than four minutes prior to liftoff on Saturday.
As anticipation built and the clock ticked down towards the 12:25 pm EDT launch window, an unexpected call of “Hold. Hold. Hold,” reverberated through the Atlas V launch team’s audio feed. The automatic hold dashed hopes for a smooth liftoff and prompted a postponement of the mission, marking the latest setback in Boeing’s Starliner program.
Wilmore and Williams, already seated inside the spacecraft, were swiftly assisted out by Boeing’s ground team as technicians scrambled to address the issue. The glitch, traced back to a problem with a ground computer, disrupted what was expected to be a routine launch to ferry the Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) for a crucial crew test flight.
“We can imagine a large rack that is a big computer where the functions of the computer as a controller are broken up separately into individual cards or printed wire circuit boards with their logic devices,” explained Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO, shedding light on the technical intricacies behind the glitch.
The malfunction occurred in one of the three computers responsible for overseeing the final minutes of the countdown. While two computers initiated seamlessly, a single card in the third unit experienced delays in booting up, triggering a red flag and halting the launch sequence.
Despite initial hopes for a quick fix, engineers from United Launch Alliance (ULA) are poised for an overnight troubleshooting session at the launch pad to identify the root cause of the issue. “If it doesn’t get off the ground by Thursday, the Starliner test flight could face a longer delay,” warned Bruno, underscoring the urgency of resolving the glitch promptly.
The disappointment surrounding the aborted countdown echoes a series of delays that have plagued Boeing’s Starliner program, pushing its first crew test flight seven years beyond the initially projected timeline. However, NASA remains undeterred, emphasizing the professionalism and dedication of the teams involved.
“Everybody is a little disappointed, but you kind of roll your sleeves up and get right back to work,” remarked Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s commercial crew program, reflecting the resilient spirit driving the mission forward.
