Washington Post by Christian Davenport 8/9/2021
13 valves failed to open on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, a more widespread problem than previously reported
Boeing said Monday that the problem that scrubbed the launch of its Starliner spacecraft last week was caused when 13 valves in its propulsion system failed to properly open during a preflight test, a more widespread issue than was previously known.
Over the weekend, engineers were able to open seven of those valves and restore them to working order, the company said, and it is still hopeful that it could launch the test flight by the end of the month. But Boeing still does not know what caused the problem, which forced yet another delay in a program that has been plagued by serious issues for years.
Boeing is developing Starliner under a contract with NASA to fly the space agency’s astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the other company that holds the “commercial crew” contract, has now flown three human spaceflight missions to the space station, but Boeing has struggled with its program and has lagged far behind.
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/08/09/boeing-starliner-launch-delay-valves/
