Boeing hit with 61 safety fixes for astronaut capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. โ Boeing faces 61 safety fixes following last year's botched test flight of its Starliner crew capsule, NASA said Friday. Douglas Loverro, NASA's human exploration and operation chief, told reporters that Boeing must first present a plan and schedule for the 61 corrective actions. Loverro said the space agency wants to verify, among other things, that Boeing has retested all the necessary software for Starliner. Boeing's Jim Chilton, a senior vice president, said his company is ready to repeat a test flight without a crew, if NASA decides on one. NASA hired Boeing and another private company, SpaceX, to develop capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the space station.
Boeing: Pin problem caused parachute issue in capsule test
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL Boeing says a problem with a pin caused its Starliner capsule to land with two instead of three parachutes earlier this week. The crew capsule underwent a safety test flight Monday, soaring nearly a mile into the New Mexico sky. Mulholland says the company is double-checking the parachute rigging on the capsule due to rocket into orbit next month. Only a dummy and some cargo will be on that test flight to the International Space Station. NASA is counting on Boeing and SpaceX to start taking astronauts to the space station from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sometime next year.
Boeing crew capsule launched mile into air on test flight
(NASA via AP)CAPE CANAVERAL, FL Boeing's crew capsule is back on land after a brief flight to test its launch abort system. The Starliner capsule carried no astronauts Monday morning, just a test dummy. The abort system will provide a fast getaway for the three astronauts if there's an emergency on the Florida pad or in flight. During Monday's test, Boeing counted down to zero, then the Starliner's launch abort engines fired. Next up is an orbital test flight.