Starliner lifted off this morning on time 10:52 AM EDT - and after tracking it
for over a month, I missed the launch time, setting my mental reminder to last
week's time of 12:25 PM. Instead of going outside to watch it, we didn't even
hear a respectable rumble to remind us it was too late to watch. It wasn't
until after noon and I went looking for the live coverage to watch that it hit
me.
It was during the post-launch, self-congratulatory news conference that NASA Administrator Bill Nelson gave us our QoTD by saying Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are "going to test this thing from izzard to gizzard, and they're going to certify it for a rotational basis to send crew to the International Space Station." Excuse me? "From izzard to gizzard?"
While Bill Nelson is from around here and it sounds vaguely like it should be Southern, I don't think I've ever heard "from izzard to gizzard" before, the Merriam-Webster dictionary says izzard is another way of pronouncing the letter "Z", like how some people say "zed" and some say "zee" (short e vs. long e). Somehow saying "from z to gizzard" doesn't make any more sense. Maybe he should have said, "from gizzard to izzard" so more like "from G to Z"? I'm at a loss.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft launches atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The QoTD out of the way, the emphasis of the press conference is they're going to test as many things as they can on the Starliner, and don't expect perfection. It's not expected to be perfect, it's expected to be flyable and manageable. Yes, it has been a long tough road to get here, but that's behind us now. Space is hard, orbit is harder, doing it right is the hardest part.
"I know it's really easy to lose patience as you're waiting for launches to happen," Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, said during today's press conference. "But, as I said before, good things are worth waiting for."
The Starliner is expected to reach the Space Station midday Eastern time. From
the
NASA TV web site
and presumably subject to change:
12:15 p.m. —Docking coverage of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station. Hatch opening and welcoming remarks with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams and the ISS Expedition 71 Crew to take place approx. 2 p.m. Stream on NASA+
3:30 p.m.—NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test post-docking news conference. Stream on NASA+
Meanwhile, as I type, it's a bit over 10 hours since liftoff and a bit under 11 hours to tomorrow morning's launch of Starship IFT-4.
"The FAA has approved a license authorization for SpaceX Starship Flight 4," the agency said in a statement. "SpaceX met all safety and other licensing requirements for this test flight."
Shortly after the FAA announced the launch license, SpaceX confirmed plans to launch the fourth test flight of the world's largest rocket at 7:00 am CDT (12:00 UTC) Thursday. The launch window runs for two hours.
After this morning, I'll set an alarm to remind me it's getting close to launch.
And now they're saying that Starliner is losing fuel from, yep, a leaky valve. We'll have to wait to find out if it's a critical issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of a story, but I saw a YouTube channel saying that around the time I was getting ready to post. It said it was "Live" and I opened it up, only to find it content-free. There was a video playing of an interview with someone I can't recall, but there was no sound, just silent video. No text on screen explaining things. Nothing.
DeleteArs Technica posted an update at 2:39 AM this morning explaining the situation. It seems l ike they regard it as a nuisance that doesn't impact the mission.
The astronauts are really earning their pay.
ReplyDeleteizzard is the do-dad that controls the confabulator that monitors the thing-a-ma-bob that controls the inlet pump's extraterrestrial values.
ReplyDeleteBe ironic they send a Dragon up to rescue the two stuck outside the ISS exclusion zone, unless they do a unplanned spacewalk from Dreamliner to ISS. Hope they have suit propulsion units. 300 meters is a long way to jump without tethers.
ReplyDeleteStarship was glorious, and Boeing's software failed. My surprise level is zero.
ReplyDeleteIt's great how The Diversity wants to try and invent themselves imaginary credit for the space program that worked 50 years after the fact, but when it comes to identifying Shaneequa or Hakeem as the pipefitter or QC inspector for a leaky valve on Starliner last year, suddenly everyone gets all quiet.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I build something, I have left over parts (excess to requirements, not important bits left out) so I build another one. This is not a good way to build a space industry.
ReplyDelete