Bathed in the floodlights of the legendary Cape Canaveral in Florida, Boeing’s first astronaut launch was dramatically halted due to an unexpected valve malfunction on the rocket, just mere hours away from the planned ascension into the stars.
The two audacious NASA test pilots were already fastened into their seats inside Boeing’s sleek Starliner capsule, mentally preparing themselves for their flight to the celestial outpost of the International Space Station. However, the countdown stopped abruptly when the launch director declared a hold on the countdown, a mere two hours from the planned ignition of engines.
The crux of the matter was attributed by United Launch Alliance CEO, Tory Bruno, who identified an oxygen pressure-relief valve on the upper stage of the Atlas rocket behaving erratically. Much to the surprise of the mission control, it began to oscillate in a fluttering manner, causing an ominous humming reverberation throughout the launch complex.
The erratic valve, Bruno explained, had possibly overstepped its lifespan of 200,000 operational cycles. This meant that a replacement was likely required, implying a delay pushing the launch back to sometime within the next week. Nevertheless, hope was not completely extinguished, as if the engineers could confirm the valve was still within its operating limit, another launch attempt could be made as early as the following night.
This was but the latest in a series of setbacks that have deferred Boeing’s inaugural crew flight, a mission besieged by hiccups due to capsule related issues over the years.
Bruno added that similar valve issues had cropped up in the past, mostly during the launches of Atlas rockets carrying satellites. However, those issues were dealt with decisively through a simple reboot of the defective valves. But when it comes to manned flights, the company abides by a more rigorous set of rules that does not allow recycling of valves, especially with a crew on board.
“Adherence to these rules and procedures warranted us to scrub the launch”, Bruno soberly revealed during a press conference.
While noting the difficulty of the decision, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, acknowledged the priority of astronaut safety. “We’re adapting step by step, prepared to launch when conditions are optimal and only proceed when it’s safe to do so,” Stich emphasized.
Scarcely a few moments after the halt of the countdown, Boeing’s newly minted astrovan returned to the launch pad to retrieve astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from their pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This setback is a reminder of Starliner’s failed unmanned test flight back in 2019 when it did not reach its destination, the International Space Station. This, in turn, required Boeing to redo the mission. If repeating a mission was not hard enough, they had to endure further setbacks from parachute malfunctions and the presence of combustible tape.
Boeing and SpaceX were enlisted by NASA nearly a decade ago for the purpose of providing a taxi service to the International Space Station. This decision was made in light of the discontinuation of the shuttle program. The private companies were commissioned, leveraging their knowledge and prowess, to lift astronauts into space, for which they received billions of dollars. SpaceX managed to break away from the challenges and commenced its orbital taxi services in 2020, with Boeing still working towards this feat.
