Dystocia! The return time of the Boeing spacecraft is still uncertain. It was postponed from June 14th to 18th, then to the 26th, and now it is said to be July.
No matter how hard Boeing's mouth is, he doesn't dare to guarantee that Starship will definitely return to Earth.
It's clear that the biggest problem for Boeing Starship right now is a helium leak. And there is not just one leak of helium, but five leaks. There is also a leak in it, and Boeing knew before the launch that it was still allowed to launch, which is really out of the ordinary.
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And if it was just a helium leak, Boeing and NASA might have dealt with it and let the spacecraft return to Earth as originally planned. But the current situation of Starship is not optimistic, not only with other problems, but also with serious problems.
One is that 5 of the ship's 28 thrusters failed. Although Boeing has claimed to have repaired some of its thrusters, how much has he repaired? Will the repairs ensure that the starship will restart and return to Earth? Boeing has never said it, and it is estimated that it is embarrassed to say it, but in fact, it is said, and others may not be able to believe it.
Second, when the Starship docked with the International Space Station, a new problem was discovered, that is, the failure of the oxidizer separation valve. Moreover, the failure of this oxygen valve, because of the location, is very difficult to repair, and may not even be able to repair.
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Third, after the discovery of a helium leak, Boeing engineers shut down the helium pipes of the propulsion system. And fatally, when returning to Earth to start, this pipe must be opened, otherwise the thruster will not work.
Counting these problems, all of them are shocking, and the neck is cold. If you don't get it right, any problem could cause devastating damage to the starship! Don't forget that the original space shuttle Columbia, because a small piece of the outer insulation tile fell off, it caused the tragic fate of the final disintegration of the space shuttle and the death of all the crew.
Now, there are two more astronauts in the International Space Station out of thin air, and there is no space in the space station. And the extra two people will be stationed at least in July, and the supply in the space station has definitely become a big problem.
Fix it slowly
The latest news: the supply on the space station may be fine for a while, but another equally important thing is about to be lost.
Equally important to this is fuel, which is already grossly insufficient. One of the opinions circulating in the diplomatic media is that Boeing has outsourced the valves of the high-pressure pipeline to India. In order to save costs, India replaced the titanium alloy material with an aluminum alloy material. This cutting corners led to substandard quality, problems with valves, and gas leaks.
I don't know if this statement is to dump the pot on the third brother, which has reduced Boeing's responsibility. But in all fairness, with the third brother's character and style, if you really want him to be a contractor, it is really possible to trick you without discussion! After all, he even dared to sell the big road goods he bought from our Taobao to his family's military aircraft factory at a rummaging price.
True or not, the damage has already been done, and it can only be borne by Boeing itself.
Experts speculate that if the leak continues at the current rate, in another 40 days, the Boeing spacecraft will not have enough pressure to start the engines, and he will lie on the ISS forever.
Where do you want to go?
Now, even if Boeing is hard-mouthed, the truth will slap him in the face. The plan to return has also been postponed again and again, is anyone still confident in their plan to return? At this moment, no matter how much rhetoric there is, it will only be an international joke after a while.
Jokes come to terms with jokes, the astronauts on the space station exceed the standard, but it is a headache after all. Other countries will not allow the United States to be so capricious and let the astronauts stay on the space station. Russia, in particular, why should it accommodate you, the Americans?
Boeing's biggest problem right now is that it still insists on returning Starship to the ground on its own, rather than turning to other countries or companies for help.
This idea is mainly based on economic considerations. Boeing has invested tens of billions of dollars from research and development to now launching. Their original idea was to make a profit from space tourism, recoup their money, and make a lot of money at the same time. Now it is a good thing, but it has become a difficult situation to ride a tiger, which has seriously affected Boeing's reputation.
For wealthy people who are willing to travel to space, space tourism is all about having fun, and who would risk their lives? There are so many opportunities to realize your wishes, so why do you have to hang under the unreliable crooked neck tree of Boeing? The Russian spaceship, Musk's Dragon spacecraft, no matter the price, is at least safe! It's really not good, and China's Shenzhou, which is the safest, and it has never gone wrong.
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If Boeing turns to Russia or Musk, or China at this time, it is obviously sending a message to the outside world that Boeing's technical capabilities are not good, so it turns to other countries and companies for help.
Where do you put Boeing's face?
But if you can do it on your own? They are also struggling, if they really insist on carrying out the return launch mission, in case Starship is reimbursed, Boeing's space dream will also be reimbursed!
Does he dare to take risks? What a dilemma!
I'm all on fire for Boeing!
Move a small stool, cut half of the watermelon, and watch the play slowly!
I'm Sunset Akiyama, welcome to like and comment, thank you for your attention!