NASA, Boeing Complete Starliner Engine Test—What’s Next for the Troubled Spacecraft?

This image shows Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station docked to the forward port of the Harmony module. The long-lasting nighttime image was taken from the orbiting complex as it flew 256 miles above the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, India. Image credit: NASA

Engineers in NASA Boeing and its partners are reviewing the final engine tests to ensure the safe return of Boeing’s test crew. Meanwhile, astronauts aboard the International Space Station are participating in health and science experiments, contributing to our understanding of the effects of space on human physiology and materials science.

NASA and Boeing engineers are evaluating the results of engine tests conducted last week at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico as the team works to develop plans for Boeing’s crewed flight test of the International Space Station In the coming weeks.

Teams have completed ground firing tests at White Sands, and are working to evaluate test data and examine the test engine. The ongoing ground analysis is expected to continue throughout the week. Working with a reaction control system built for the future Starliner spacecraft, ground teams fired the engine under flight conditions similar to those the spacecraft would encounter on its way to the space station. Ground tests also included stress firings, replicating the conditions the Starliner engines would experience from separation to an ex-orbital burn, where the engines would fire to slow the Starliner down to de-orbit it for a landing in the southwestern United States.

For a detailed overview of the test plans, listen to a replay of a recent press conference with NASA and Boeing leaders:

“I am extremely proud of the NASA and Boeing teams for their hard work in executing this very complex series of tests,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. “We have collected an incredible amount of data on the engine that will help us better understand what happens during flight. Our team is now moving on to disassemble and inspect the engine, which will provide additional insights as we analyze the results and evaluate next steps.”

Preparing for Starliner’s return to Earth

Integrated ground teams are also preparing to conduct an in-depth review of the agency’s flight test readiness, which will assess data on the spacecraft’s propulsion system performance before it returns to Earth. The agency’s review date has not yet been set.

NASA and Boeing leaders plan to discuss the testing and analysis work in detail during a media briefing next week. More information about the briefing will be available soon.

NASA astronaut and Boeing flight test lead Butch Wilmore works on the fluid systems service device that drains, cleans and distributes fluids to systems aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

Astronaut Activities and Research on the International Space Station

While tests and analyses are underway on Earth, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Starliner mission commander, and Suni Williams, the mission pilot, work alongside the Expedition 71 crew. The pair participated in vein scans using the Ultrasound 2 device on Monday. Doctors on Earth watched in real time as the pair took turns imaging each other’s veins in their neck, shoulders and legs. Wilmore then scanned the veins of fellow NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick, helping researchers understand how zero gravity affects the human body.

Wilmore and Dominic also spent part of the day inventorying food stored aboard the space station. Williams worked on two studies, initially exploring the use of microgravity to manufacture Higher quality optical fiber Williams also investigated the use of fluid physics, such as surface tension, to overcome the lack of gravity when watering and feeding. Plants grown in space.