Boeing Starliner Spacecraft 3

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  • Calypso
  • Spacecraft 3
CST-100 Starliner integration with Atlas V for Orbital Flight Test (KSC-20191121-PH-CSH02 0080) (cropped).jpg
Calypso at Cape Canaveral being integrated with its Atlas V launch vehicle prior to the first Boeing Orbital Flight Test
CountryUnited States
Named after RV Calypso
StatusIn service
First flight Boe-OFT
20 December 2019
No. of missions1
Time spent in space2d, 1h, 22m, 10s

Spacecraft 3, formally known as Calypso, is a Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft manufactured Boeing and used in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. On 20 December 2019 Calypso launched on the Boeing-Orbital Flight Test mission, an uncrewed test flight of Starliner to the International Space Station. [1] . The spacecraft was scheduled to dock to the ISS and then return to Earth following a week in space, although due to several software issues the spacecraft was unable to rendezvous with the station and landed following two days in space, this resulted in Boeing needing to schedule a second Orbital Flight Test which is currently targeted for October 2020 [2]

Contents

History

In September 2014 Boeing was one of two companies selected by NASA to develop crewed spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, the other being SpaceX. Boeing planned to construct three Starliner spacecraft. The spacecraft's ability to be reused up to ten times with a six-month turnaround time between flights meant three spacecraft would be enough to satisfy the needs of the Commercial Crew Program [3] . Spacecraft 3 launched for the first time on Boe-OFT, the first orbital flight of Starliner, on 20 December 2019. The spacecraft was scheduled to dock with the ISS the following day. However, due to software errors causing the spacecraft's Mission Elapsed Timer (MET) to be off by 11 hours, the spacecraft performed an "off-nominal orbital insertion burn" and prevented the spacecraft from being able to rendezvous and dock with the ISS during the flight. [4] Instead, the spacecraft remained in orbit for two days, performing as many tests as possible without the ISS rendezvous, and landed at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico on 22 December 2019 [5] .

Upon landing, it was announced that the spacecraft would be reflown on USCV-2, the first operational flight of Starliner to the ISS. After the announcement, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, commander of the USCV-2 mission, named the spacecraft "Calypso" after Jacques-Yves Cousteau's oceanography vessel, RV Calypso. [6] Calypso is currently the only Starliner spacecraft to be given an official name. Although Calypso is still scheduled to return to space on USCV-2, Boeing's announcement in March 2020 that they would refly the Orbital Flight Test due to the numerous problems on the first test casts some doubt on whether that will actually happen, since the spacecraft rotation might need to be changed. The spacecraft might now return to space on Boe-CFT, the first crewed test flight of Starliner. Following the spacecraft's second flight it is unclear when Boeing or NASA will fly the spacecraft again. Boeing is currently contracted to fly five operational missions to the ISS under the Commercial Crew Program following USCV-2, so Calypso will most likely see space for a third time on a later crew rotation flight.

Flights

Calypso flew in space for the first time on the Boe-OFT mission on 20 December 2019, the spacecraft was scheduled to be reflown on USCV-2 sometime in 2021 although the current flight scheduled currently unclear since it is unknown which spacecraft will fly the Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 mission.

MissionLaunch date

(UTC)

InsigniaCrewRemarksDurationOutcome
Boe-OFT 20 December 2019, 11:36:43N/AFirst uncrewed orbital test flight of Starliner. The mission's main objective of ISS rendezvous was aborted due to software incorrectly keeping mission time, leading to a late orbital insertion burn with excessive fuel expenditure. Issues lead to the need for a repeat Orbital Flight Test being planned.2d, 1h, 22m, 10sPartial failure due to two critical software defects. Rendezvous with ISS cancelled. OFT-2 was proposed and scheduled for Q3 2020
USCV-2 2021 NET Flag of the United States.svg Sunita Williams
Flag of the United States.svg Josh Cassada
Flag of Japan.svg Akihiko Hoshide
Flag of the United States.svg TBA		First operational flight of Boeing Starliner.6 months (planned)Planned

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References

  1. ↑ "CST-100 Starliner (Boe-OFT) Mission (Atlas V) - RocketLaunch.Live". www.rocketlaunch.live.
  2. ↑ "Boeing to Fly Second Uncrewed Orbital Flight Test for NASA – Commercial Crew Program". blogs.nasa.gov.
  3. ↑ https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/%5B%5D
  4. ↑ "NASA Shares Initial Findings from Boeing Starliner Orbital Flight Test Investigation – Commercial Crew Program". blogs.nasa.gov.
  5. ↑ "NASA, Boeing Complete Successful Landing of Starliner Flight Test – Commercial Crew Program". blogs.nasa.gov.
  6. ↑ Dunbar, Brian (December 22, 2019). "Starliner Returns to Earth With a New Name: Calypso". NASA.
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