Boeing Starliner launch delayed another four days for tests to verify helium leak repair
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying Boeing’s hard-luck Starliner capsule has been delayed another four days, from Friday to next Tuesday, to give engineers time to make sure a small helium leak in the crew ship’s propulsion system has been resolved, officials said Tuesday.
Liftoff from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is now targeted for 4:43 p.m. EDT May 21, setting up a docking at the International Space Station the following afternoon. The flight is expected to conclude with a landing in White Sands, New Mexico, around May 30.
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Mission commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams had hoped to take off on the Starliner’s first piloted flight last Monday. They were in the process of strapping in when the countdown was called off because of trouble with an oxygen pressure relief valve in the rocket’s Centaur upper stage.
during an initial unpiloted test flight in December 2019 and corroded propulsion system valves that delayed a second uncrewed test mission to May 2022.
The second test flight was a success, but engineers ran into additional questions about parachute harness connectors and protective tape wrapped around wiring that posed a fire risk in a short circuit. Work to correct those issues and others delayed the first piloted launch to this month.
The Atlas 5 oxygen valve problem was United Launch Alliance’s responsibility. The helium leak responsible for the latest delay goes on the Starliner list, but it apparently is a relatively minor problem and would not have prevented launch last week.
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Source: cbsnews.com