doublebonusvideopoker| Boeing reveals that U.S. astronauts will fly on a "leaky" spacecraft NASA: It has done this before

① 's launch scheduled for May has been postponed to next week because of problems with rockets and spaceships.Doublebonusvideopoker② with regard to the spacecraft's "helium leak" problem, Boeing and NASA believe that it will not affect the launch and will not replace the faulty seals for the time being; ③, according to the latest news, the window for the next attempt to launch is set for June 1.

Xinhua News Agency, May 25 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng)-Boeing held a joint media conference call with NASA on Friday local time. In addition to confirming the date of the first manned space test flight of the next Boeing "interstellar passenger ship", it also discussed in detail a series of new problems found in the spaceship in the past few weeks.

According to the plan, Boeing's decade-long interstellar passenger ship (CST-100 Starliner) will carry two senior astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, aboard the International Space Station and return a week later.

The historic test flight was originally scheduled for the 6th of this month, but before the launch, it was reported that the Atlas V rocket carried by the "Starship" had a valve problem and the launch had to be cancelled. The Atlas V rocket was developed by a joint launch company jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Attempt to launch on June 1st

Boeing and NASA announced that the latest plan is to launch at 12:25 EDT on June 1, with alternative launch windows on June 2, June 5 and June 6, respectively.

To the surprise of Boeing and the two astronauts, Boeing also said that although the faulty valve of the rocket had been replaced, follow-up engineers found a "small helium leak" in the propulsion system of the Starship. Helium is an inert gas used to push propellants to thrusters. So in theory, if you lose too much helium, the thruster may not work properly.

After investigation, the leak point was traced back to the helium pipeline seal of a reaction control system engine. There are 28 such engines on the Starship. Steve Stich, project manager of NASA's commercial manned program, explained that just like faucets in your home, seals are needed to keep the interface tight.

After intense research, the engineers came to the conclusion that it was not a big problem, so let it continue to leak. Another consideration is that if the seal is to be replaced, the spacecraft needs to be removed from the rocket, which will lead to a further delay in the flight test schedule. Stich stressed on Friday that even if that particular leak rate increased by a factor of 100, the launch team could handle it.

Due to delays in the development of the interstellar route, Boeing has lost more than $1.5 billion on the project, including NASA subsidies.

As if to quell concerns about a "leaky spaceship", Stich stressed that NASA has done this many times. He said NASA had flown many small helium leaks in the past, including multiple missions by the space shuttle and SpaceX's "dragon spacecraft."

Stich also said that even if it took off with problems on May 6, it would be able to handle such problems during the flight.

The leak problem also leads to more defects.

The leak prompted NASA to conduct a broader inspection of Boeing's propulsion system, revealing a "design vulnerability"-the spacecraft may not be able to safely bring astronauts back to Earth in the event of a series of highly probable events.

To put it simply, if a large engine used for derailment fails, one of the backup plans is to use eight smaller thrusters. However, NASA's analysis shows that if there is another failure, only four smaller thrusters may be available.

Boeing engineers then urgently replenished a backup plan that would allow the ship to get out of orbit using only four smaller thrusters.

It is reported that Boeing, NASA and United launch companies will review the leak of the spacecraft again on May 29th. If business as usual, rockets and spacecraft will be sent to the launch pad on May 30, waiting for the test flight on June 1.

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