So let's do the one that sounds funnier. In both senses of the word. It sounds funnier because it's about funny sounds.
Starliner and now Crew-9 Astronaut Butch Wilmore got on the radio link to mission control to ask, "what's that funny sound coming out of Starliner?"
On Saturday NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore noticed some strange noises emanating from a speaker inside the Starliner spacecraft.
"I've got a question about Starliner," Wilmore radioed down to Mission Control, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "There's a strange noise coming through the speaker ... I don't know what's making it."
The sound reminded people of a sonar ping, but there's no reason for that on
Starliner. Also, astronauts hearing strange sounds in space isn't a new thing. It's usually expansion and contraction of the materials surrounding them.
Sept. 2 Update: NASA issued the following explanation on Monday for the strange noises: "A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped. The feedback from the speaker was the result of an audio configuration between the space station and Starliner. The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback."
Starliner is scheduled to undock from the ISS this Friday, September 6, to begin its autonomous return home. The undocking is tentatively set for approximately 6:04 pm EDT (2204 UTC) and I assume it will be on one of the many YouTube channels that carry ISS activity.
I am not a sound engineer. I know little about audio systems. About that system installed on ISS, I say I know nothing of how it works.
ReplyDeleteThat the noise was heard only through the speaker, but not, say the hull or any other part or system, had me thinking this was feedback on an open circuit. Given how they solved the problem, I say there is no squelch adjustment on Stuckliner.
Only being heard through the speaker is a strong clue that it's coming from something like that. Signal leaking between paths, improper isolation, and other little things.
DeleteSo I guess Boeing solved the "Oops, we didn't load the self-driving software" issue.
ReplyDeleteI fully expect the capsule to not survive well. I may be wrong, but...
And if it survives, even in a 'mostly survived' sense, Boeing will push to keep flying the turd.
The new CEO of Boeing, Kelly Ortberg, says he's going to have them fix it and get back their reputation. That's suffering pretty badly now.
DeleteSome of the industry watchers are saying it won't last. I suppose it depends on how bad it is and deep the hole is. It's still coming straight out of their pockets - they ran out of the fixed price contract years ago.
NASA still wants a backup way to rescue anyone on the ISS. Or a backup backup in this case - putting Soyuz ahead of Boeing.
Unless the new CEO does a complete cleansing, canning a good portion of the management staff and kicking the incompetent workers out the door, nothing will change.
DeleteBecause that's what needs to happen. Firings, pink slips, invitations to leave, boots on the butts. Cut bad staff away and leave only those who actually can do something.
A good start would be getting rid of anyone with an MBA and no science or engineering background. And then get rid of any bean counter who is in a managerial position not directly in accounting. Bean counters need to stay in their corner. (Note: A true bean counter is only a bean counter. An engineer or scientist with an accounting degree is somewhat suspicious, depending on whether they focus on the engineering or sciencing primarily.)
And in the manufacturing, more power needs to be given to the good workers to allow them to stop something hinky.
But, no, I don't see Boeing downsizing and poop-canning the useless peoples. So nothing really will change. Sadly.
As to the backup, if Sierra Space ever gets their DreamChaser launched and working, a crewed version would not be hard to make. After all, the cargo version IS the crewed version but without windows, seats and all the fun life support stuff. And I trust Sierra Space far more than even LockMart, let alone Boeing.
The way Artemis and SLS are going, they need to kill the whole program. This is the sunk cost fallacy, throwing good money after bad. Nothing gets that money that has been wasted back. The waste just grows. Maybe they can sell some stuff for scrap. Artemis III - the first landing mission - is penciled in for 23. Lots of people are saying '27 or '28. I'd take money the Chinese put a crew on the moon before Artemis III. Further, I don't think there's anything that be done to change that.
DeleteAck! Typo monster. Artemis III is penciled in for '26 not 23.
DeleteMy heart goes out to Astronaut Butch Wilmore. Hearing that sound on top of all that has already happened and knowing the ISS was about to be depth charged.
ReplyDelete"The machine that goes ping. You know, the most expensive machine in the hospital."
ReplyDeleteFunny sounds in space? Astronaut Butch Wilmore reported odd noises from Starliner, which turned out to be audio feedback. Space adventures never get boring! 🚀🎧 #SpaceExploration #Starliner
ReplyDelete