Before Boeing’s first flight with humans on its Starliner spacecraft earlier this month, the company and NASA said repeatedly that a rigorous testing program following years of delays and costly setbacks meant they were finally ready to fly astronauts.
They also warned that because this was a test flight to and from the International Space Station, everything might not go perfectly. It hasn’t gone perfectly.
Instead of coming home after about eight days, the spacecraft remains docked to the station, its return delayed indefinitely while teams continue to troubleshoot a series of problems – helium leaks and a few thrusters that stopped working at a critical moment in the flight – in the capsule’s propulsion system.
While the top priority is making sure NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore return to Earth safely, the technical delays, and whether Boeing can overcome them, reflect not only the high stakes for the future of the Starliner program, but the company’s future in space.
Boeing desperately needs to demonstrate that it can fly astronauts safely, and overcome the kinds of technical challenges that have been plaguing the spacecraft – as well as the company’s commercial aviation division.
Once the mission is complete, NASA and Boeing must undergo a rigorous process to certify Starliner for regular crew rotation missions with a full contingent of four astronauts for regular six-month stays on the station. Only then can Starliner join SpaceX’s Dragon, which first flew astronauts for NASA in 2020, and deliver on a $US4.2 billion ($6.3 billion) contract NASA awarded Boeing a decade ago.
NASA is eager for Boeing’s Starliner to serve as a second American transport system to the space station. SpaceX has been serving that function alone since 2020, but NASA says it needs two systems in case one goes down.
Years of setbacks, including a botched test flight without astronauts on board in 2019, have cost Boeing $US1.5 billion in cost overruns. It needs Starliner to start flying the regular crew rotation flights so that it can start getting paid for the missions.
本月早些时候，在波音公司首次 Starliner 宇宙飞船载人飞行之前，该公司和 NASA 多次表示，在经历了多年的延误和代价高昂的挫折之后，严格的测试计划意味着他们终于准备好载人飞行了。 他们还警告说，由于这是一次往返国际空间站的试飞，一切可能不会完美。的确进展并不完美。 大约八天后，航天器没有返回，而是仍然停靠在空间站上，返回无限期推迟，同时团队继续解决太空舱推进系统的一系列问题——氦泄漏和一些推进器在飞行的关键时刻停止工作。 虽然首要任务是确保美国宇航局宇航员苏尼塔·威廉姆斯和巴里·“布奇”·威尔莫尔安全返回地球，但技术延误以及波音能否克服这些延误不仅反映出 Starliner 计划未来的高风险，也反映出该公司的太空中的未来。 波音公司迫切需要证明它能够安全地运送宇航员，并克服一直困扰航天器以及该公司商业航空部门的各种技术挑战。 这次任务完成后，美国宇航局和波音公司必须经过严格的程序，以证明 Starliner 能够执行定期机组人员轮换任务，并由四名宇航员组成的完整队伍在空间站定期停留六个月。只有这样，Starliner 才能加入 SpaceX 的 Dragon 行列，该公司于 2020 年首次为 NASA 运送宇航员，并交付 NASA 在 10 年前授予波音公司的价值 42 亿美元的合同。 美国宇航局渴望波音的星际客机成为美国通往空间站的第二个运输系统。自 2020 年以来，SpaceX 一直在单独提供这一功能，但 NASA 表示，它需要两个系统，以防其中一个系统发生故障。 多年来的挫折，包括 2019 年在没有宇航员的情况下进行的一次失败的试飞，已使波音公司成本超支 15 亿美元。波音公司需要 Starliner 开始执行定期的机组人员轮换航班而开始获得任务报酬。
