Two NASA astronauts will remain aboard the space station a few extra days as Boeing and NASA work to better understand issues with the Starliner spacecraft.
I’ll believe it’s not an issue when there are zero new issues from this point until the capsule deorbits. They already said the leak would not be an issue when it was on the ground before launch. Then there were problems while docking, and for a while there a question of whether it would even be allowed to dock in the first place until they managed to get deactivated thrusters working again. So, sorry if I don’t trust them with regards to this issue, they’ve been incorrect twice already about this not being an issue. What makes it any different now that it’s up there and sitting in space?
If the RCS system in that service module still has issues, it could be unsafe to disconnect it from the ISS at all if they won’t have consistent control over the module/capsule. The last thing we need is an uncontrolled capsule and service module in the vicinity of the ISS. While the service module doesn’t come back with the capsule, it is necessary right up until reentry. It has all of the thrusters and engine on it to perform the deorbit burn. After it disconnects, the only real maneuver the capsule does is turn around so the heat shield is facing forwards. I get wanting to perform further tests since it doesn’t return with the capsul, no issue there.
But this also brings up a bigger picture question. This is now the second time in roughly a year where there is questionable access to enough seats if they needed to evacuate the station in an emergency. Normally, the craft that are docked cover the number of astronauts on board the station, and any new craft would obviously cover anyone coming up, but there aren’t usually spare seats. If a craft is found to be unsafe to detach from the ISS or return manned for any reason, that means there aren’t enough seats to actually evacuate the station. The Soyuz leak last year left them without enough seats, and now the uncertainty around Starliner theoretically creates a second, regardless of what they want to say publicly. This craft has already showed maneuverability issues, and shouldn’t be trusted in an emergency.
I’ll believe it’s not an issue when there are zero new issues from this point until the capsule deorbits. They already said the leak would not be an issue when it was on the ground before launch. Then there were problems while docking, and for a while there a question of whether it would even be allowed to dock in the first place until they managed to get deactivated thrusters working again. So, sorry if I don’t trust them with regards to this issue, they’ve been incorrect twice already about this not being an issue. What makes it any different now that it’s up there and sitting in space?
If the RCS system in that service module still has issues, it could be unsafe to disconnect it from the ISS at all if they won’t have consistent control over the module/capsule. The last thing we need is an uncontrolled capsule and service module in the vicinity of the ISS. While the service module doesn’t come back with the capsule, it is necessary right up until reentry. It has all of the thrusters and engine on it to perform the deorbit burn. After it disconnects, the only real maneuver the capsule does is turn around so the heat shield is facing forwards. I get wanting to perform further tests since it doesn’t return with the capsul, no issue there.
But this also brings up a bigger picture question. This is now the second time in roughly a year where there is questionable access to enough seats if they needed to evacuate the station in an emergency. Normally, the craft that are docked cover the number of astronauts on board the station, and any new craft would obviously cover anyone coming up, but there aren’t usually spare seats. If a craft is found to be unsafe to detach from the ISS or return manned for any reason, that means there aren’t enough seats to actually evacuate the station. The Soyuz leak last year left them without enough seats, and now the uncertainty around Starliner theoretically creates a second, regardless of what they want to say publicly. This craft has already showed maneuverability issues, and shouldn’t be trusted in an emergency.