Aug 11, 2021 06:58 PM
(engineering) NASA’s new space suits are delayed, making a 2024 Moon landing ‘not feasible'
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/10/22618...24-artemis
INTRO: NASA’s development of new astronaut space suits will be nearly two years late and nix its effort to land humans on the Moon by 2024, an inspector general report released on Tuesday found. Those delays compound a daunting set of schedule challenges NASA already faces — from the development of its new human-rated lunar lander to getting its massive Space Launch System rocket off the ground.
An audit from the agency’s Office of Inspector General said NASA is on track to spend more than $1 billion on space suit development by the time its first two suits are ready, which would be “April 2025 at the earliest,” the report said. “Given these anticipated delays in spacesuit development, a lunar landing in late 2024 as NASA currently plans is not feasible.”
NASA is trying to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon for the first time since 1972 under its Artemis program that was spawned by the Trump administration in 2019. The program, as set by former Vice President Mike Pence, called for a crewed lunar landing in 2024 — a deadline that President Biden’s transition team deemed unrealistic. But NASA continues to embrace the date, with administrator Bill Nelson insinuating delays are likely because “space is hard.”
NASA has already spent $420 million on space suit development since 2007, before the advent of its Artemis program, and it plans to “invest approximately $625.2 million more” through 2025, the report said. The space suit’s design and purpose have changed repeatedly over the years as NASA’s priorities in space teeter between new administrations. A new Artemis-tailored space suit design, called xEMU, was unveiled in 2019. Current suits worn by astronauts on the International Space Station are restrictive, haven’t been upgraded in decades, and aren’t designed for long walks on the Moon... (MORE)
Russia mocks Boeing, offering to fix its broken Starliner spacecraft
https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-off...-starliner
EXCERPT: Russia’s space agency Roscosmos appears to be mocking Boeing’s efforts by offering to help fix the broken Starliner. According to Russian state news agency TASS, the MV Keldysh research center, owned and operated by Roscosmos, is ready to assist Boeing in solving the many issues it’s facing with Starliner — though it failed to elaborate on exactly how it plans to help out... (MORE - details)
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(engineering) What in the hell is going on with Boeing's Starliner
https://gizmodo.com/what-in-the-hell-is-...1847457012
EXCERPTS: The Starliner story is getting sadder by the minute. The first uncrewed test flight of Starliner in late 2019 ended in disappointment, as the spacecraft failed to reach the International Space Station. The botched test resulted in a slew of corrections and a 1.5-year delay in the project, which, as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, seeks to provide a platform for transporting astronauts to the ISS. Aside from Russian craft, the only other available option for NASA is to launch astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which got off the ground in May 2020.
[...] The second uncrewed test of Starliner was supposed to happen on July 30, but the misfiring Russian Nauka module caused the ISS to perform an unscheduled backflip, resulting in the delay.
Following the scrubbed launch on August 3, the Starliner capsule—still atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket—was moved to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) for closer inspection. Located next to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, this hangar gives engineering teams the ability to inspect the spacecraft up close. The capsule is currently powered and capable of receiving commands, according to NASA. Boeing initially described the problem as having to do with “unexpected valve position indications.”
[...] I’m not holding my breath. This problem seems serious, not something that can casually be swept aside, regardless of the cause. But you wouldn’t know it from Boeing. [...] So the saga continues with Starliner. Thankfully, NASA astronauts can hitch a ride to space on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, so time isn’t necessarily of the essence. But this is starting to get discouraging, if not very worrisome. (MORE - details)
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/10/22618...24-artemis
INTRO: NASA’s development of new astronaut space suits will be nearly two years late and nix its effort to land humans on the Moon by 2024, an inspector general report released on Tuesday found. Those delays compound a daunting set of schedule challenges NASA already faces — from the development of its new human-rated lunar lander to getting its massive Space Launch System rocket off the ground.
An audit from the agency’s Office of Inspector General said NASA is on track to spend more than $1 billion on space suit development by the time its first two suits are ready, which would be “April 2025 at the earliest,” the report said. “Given these anticipated delays in spacesuit development, a lunar landing in late 2024 as NASA currently plans is not feasible.”
NASA is trying to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon for the first time since 1972 under its Artemis program that was spawned by the Trump administration in 2019. The program, as set by former Vice President Mike Pence, called for a crewed lunar landing in 2024 — a deadline that President Biden’s transition team deemed unrealistic. But NASA continues to embrace the date, with administrator Bill Nelson insinuating delays are likely because “space is hard.”
NASA has already spent $420 million on space suit development since 2007, before the advent of its Artemis program, and it plans to “invest approximately $625.2 million more” through 2025, the report said. The space suit’s design and purpose have changed repeatedly over the years as NASA’s priorities in space teeter between new administrations. A new Artemis-tailored space suit design, called xEMU, was unveiled in 2019. Current suits worn by astronauts on the International Space Station are restrictive, haven’t been upgraded in decades, and aren’t designed for long walks on the Moon... (MORE)
Russia mocks Boeing, offering to fix its broken Starliner spacecraft
https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-off...-starliner
EXCERPT: Russia’s space agency Roscosmos appears to be mocking Boeing’s efforts by offering to help fix the broken Starliner. According to Russian state news agency TASS, the MV Keldysh research center, owned and operated by Roscosmos, is ready to assist Boeing in solving the many issues it’s facing with Starliner — though it failed to elaborate on exactly how it plans to help out... (MORE - details)
- - - - - -
(engineering) What in the hell is going on with Boeing's Starliner
https://gizmodo.com/what-in-the-hell-is-...1847457012
EXCERPTS: The Starliner story is getting sadder by the minute. The first uncrewed test flight of Starliner in late 2019 ended in disappointment, as the spacecraft failed to reach the International Space Station. The botched test resulted in a slew of corrections and a 1.5-year delay in the project, which, as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, seeks to provide a platform for transporting astronauts to the ISS. Aside from Russian craft, the only other available option for NASA is to launch astronauts aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which got off the ground in May 2020.
[...] The second uncrewed test of Starliner was supposed to happen on July 30, but the misfiring Russian Nauka module caused the ISS to perform an unscheduled backflip, resulting in the delay.
Following the scrubbed launch on August 3, the Starliner capsule—still atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket—was moved to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) for closer inspection. Located next to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, this hangar gives engineering teams the ability to inspect the spacecraft up close. The capsule is currently powered and capable of receiving commands, according to NASA. Boeing initially described the problem as having to do with “unexpected valve position indications.”
[...] I’m not holding my breath. This problem seems serious, not something that can casually be swept aside, regardless of the cause. But you wouldn’t know it from Boeing. [...] So the saga continues with Starliner. Thankfully, NASA astronauts can hitch a ride to space on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, so time isn’t necessarily of the essence. But this is starting to get discouraging, if not very worrisome. (MORE - details)