Update 11:15 a.m. ET : NASA and Boeing official divvy up more details about the anomaly at a press group discussion this morning , which open up with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine saying , “ This is in fact why we essay . ”
As he and his colleagues explain , it ’s still too early to be sure , but the problem is likely bear on to a computer software automation glitch . During detachment from the Atlas V rocket , for reasons that are n’t yet clear , Starliner switch to the incorrect clock . By not having the correct clock time , Starliner erroneously believed it needed to perform an orbital insertion burn . consequently , the spacecraft “ tried to maintain a control that it would n’t normally have done , ” and it burned excessive fuel as a result , said Bridenstine . This forced the flight squad to prevail out the planned docking with the ISS .
The NASA headman noted that , had a crew been on board , they would have been safe and subject of operating the vehicle themselves . Perhaps ironically , it was the lack of human control that resulted in the misplay , showing the limitations of uncrewed testing .
Artistic conception of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner.Image: (Boeing)
“ Had we been on panel , we could ’ve give the flying team more options , ” tell NASA astronaut Mike Fincke at the press conference . His colleague NASA astronaut Nicole Mann agreed , saying astronauts could have taken manual mastery of the thrusters or perform a de - celestial orbit , among many other undertaking . “ That ’s our job — that ’s what we ’re train to do , ” she sound out , adding : “ We do n’t have any safety concerns . ”
When Starliner went off the track , the flying team attempted to send backup command to the spacecraft using the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System ( TDRSS ) . But , “ we were between TDRSS satellites , ” said Bridenstine , which made a link impossible . At the public press conference , Jim Chilton , senior vice president of the Space and Launch division of Boeing Defense , Space & Security ( BDS ) , said , “ We found ourselves in a place where it was strong to get that link in . ”
Bridenstine said it was premature to know if this blow would detain a next Starliner crewed mission to the ISS , but he made it clear that the successful moorage of an uncrewed spacecraft is not a necessary for move forward . The Space Shuttle missions , he said , involved crews that had to tail with various ballistic capsule for the very first time . This is a solid hint that the mission will move forwards without much delay and that a crewed mission aboard Starliner is still very much in the card .
Indeed , it appear that everything else went right with this charge , from the performance of the Atlas V arugula to the performance of Starliner itself , software bug notwithstanding . The work party cabin , though empty , is operating as planned , according to the NASA and Boeing officials .
That said , this trial mission is not over . after today , the spacecraft will make a series of burns to raise its orbit higher , and it ’s carry to make an atmospherical re - entry in about 48 hours , landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico .
The original clause appear below .
Early Friday dawn , Boeing launched its uncrewed CST-100 Starliner from Cape Canaveral in Florida , but the spacecraft experience an “ off - token ” orbital insertion that will keep it from rendezvous with the International Space Station . It ’s a disappointing setback to Boeing ’s aspiration to eventually return astronaut to the ISS on behalf of NASA .
All seemed well at first , as the uncrewed CST-100 Starliner departed Cape Canaveral this morning atop an Atlas vanadium Eruca vesicaria sativa , blast off at 6:36 a.m. ET . Around 30 minutes into the launch , however , it became vindicated that the spacecraft did not pass its intended reach , and it wo n’t be able-bodied to rendezvous with the International Space Station as plan due to deficiency of fuel , concord to NASA chief Jim Bridenstine .
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1208021843388633090
As Bridenstine explain in a serial of tweets , Starlinerexperienceda “ Mission Elapsed Time ” anomaly , which made the spacecraft believe “ it was in an orbital insertion burn , when it was not . ” As a result , Starlinerburned more fuelthan it was guess to , which will now prevent it from meeting up with the ISS . That say , Starliner is presently in a “ safe and unchanging configuration , ” according to a Boeingpress release .
Jonathan McDowell , an astronomer at the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics , partake in some insight into the incident in atweet , say the anomaly would n’t have posed a peril to human life .
So , no ISS for you , Starliner . Too much airscrew used up recover from the anomaly . Good news : seems like this would have been survivable for the crew , and hopefully they have enough property will to successfully recover the ballistic capsule .
— Jonathan McDowell ( @planet4589)December 20 , 2019
This is definitely discouraging news . Boeing ’s CST-100 Starliner is part of NASA ’s Commercial Crew Development program , which is seeking to restore America ’s power to severally deliver astronauts to infinite — something the U.S. has n’t been able to do since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 . Had this mission gone well , Boeing and NASA could have go toward the next step , namely a crewed launching early next twelvemonth . It ’s unclear how today ’s setback might influence that timeline .
NASA will be contain a pressure conference at 9:30 a.m. today , at which time we ’ll instruct more about this incident . We will update this post accordingly , so stay tuned .
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