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受困太空人早日歸來無望-Marina Watts
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我雖然注意到這個太空人受困於太空的新聞,但是由於一直沒有一個肯定的解決方案,我不想隨著起舞。畢竟人命關天。希望NASA和波音公司的確有一套萬全的計畫。 更正:
我顯然誤解了下面這篇報導;NASA和波音公司目前只是設法將損壞的太空艙收回(請參看本欄下一篇報導)。標題已經修正。兩位受困的太空人明年2月前將無法回到地球。 NASA Makes Decision to Bring Home Astronauts Who Have Been Stuck in Space for 80 Days Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are expected to return home in February 2025 Marina Watts, 08/26/24 Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore left for their mission in early June and were initally at risk of not coming home until 2025 NASA is bringing home astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams and Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who have been stuck in space for 80 days. CNN reported that NASA held a review to discuss the situation on Saturday, Aug. 24. After weighing the safety of their vehicles available, NASA concluded that a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule would be able to be used to bring Williams and Wilmore home. The Starliner vehicle, which launched Williams, 58, and Wilmore, 61, to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida's Space Coast on June 5, experienced helium leaks and thrusters that weren't functioning amid their trip into space. The mechanical issues initially seemed minor, and Boeing stated that they wouldn't affect the astronauts' coming home on time. However, NASA revealed days later that the aircraft would potentially not be safe for their trip back to Earth, which set their return timeline to 2025, and the organization began brainstorming. An initial plan to bring the astronauts home wouldn't have been possible until February 2025 at the earliest. Now, the astronauts will return in early September, thanks to a unanimous decision from NASA representatives. “We have had mistakes done in the past: We lost two space shuttles as a result of there not being a culture in which information could come forward,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said. “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and even at its most routine. And a test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine," he added. Boeing, meanwhile, said in a statement that the company “continues to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft. We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.” Amid Starliner's technical issues in July, Williams and Wilmore spoke about spending time on the ISS. Williams expressed confidence in NASA, saying she has "a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem." Wilmore, meanwhile, shared the same sentiment. "That mantra you’ve heard, failure is not an option. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter! Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Related: How 2 Astronauts Stuck in Space Spend Their Time While Waiting for Rescue Do the Astronauts Stuck in Space Have Enough Food and Water for Their Mission? NASA Astronaut Explains
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波音受損太空艙成功著陸 ---- Josh Dinner
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Astronauts would have been fine on Boeing's Starliner during landing, NASA says When it comes to human lives, better to err on the side of caution. Josh Dinner, 09/10/24 After more than three months in space, Starliner's 10-day Crew Flight Test (CFT) has finally concluded. The Boeing spacecraft made a successful landing over the weekend, parachuting to a soft touchdown in the dark desert night of White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) Saturday (Sep. 7). The return marked an end to a long-delayed and issue-ridden mission, which launched with two NASA astronauts, but returned with none. It turns out they would have been totally fine. Despite the issues it experienced on its flight up to the International Space Station (ISS), Starliner's uncrewed landing performed as expected, with the spacecraft touching down precisely as NASA and Boeing had designed for its delayed return. "If we'd have had a crew on board the spacecraft, we would have followed the same back away sequence from the space station, the same deorbit burn and executed the same entry. And so it would have been a safe, successful landing with the crew on board," said Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, during a post-landing press conference. But, hindsight is always twenty-twenty. Boeing and NASA spent the past three months performing tests in White Sands, trying to recreate and understand the thruster issues Starliner experienced in space. "It's always hard to have that retrospective look," Stich said after Starliner's return, adding, "if we'd had a model that would have predicted what we saw tonight perfectly, yeah, it looks like an easy decision to go say we could have had a crewed fight, but we didn't have that." Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Starliner on June 4, expecting to spend a little more than a week on orbit. The CFT mission was to be Starliner's final qualifying flight before entering into operational rotation as a crew transport to the ISS. However, thruster issues as the spacecraft approached the ISS led to a three-month delay in Starliner's return, which it ultimately did without astronauts onboard. NASA announced its decision for Starliner to return uncrewed at the end of August, reassigning Wilmore and Williams as part of ISS Expedition 71. That required the agency to designate two empty seats aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft launching SpaceX's Crew-9 astronaut mission for NASA later this month so that Wilmore and Williams can ride home in them at the end of the Crew-9 rotation in February. That means by the time they come home, instead of ten days in space, the duo will have spent ten months aboard the station. A path forward for Starliner is currently unclear. The spacecraft was slated to begin six-month crew ration missions to the ISS starting in February next year, but that has already been pushed back to August 2025, at the earliest. "I want to recognize the work the Starliner teams did to ensure a successful and safe undocking, deorbit, re-entry and landing," Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program said in a statement. "We will review the data and determine the next steps for the program." Josh Dinner, writer, is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. …
Related: Boeing's Starliner capsule just landed with no crew aboard. What's next for this astronaut taxi? Starliner: Boeing's next-generation spaceship for astronauts NASA cuts 2 astronauts from SpaceX Crew-9 mission to make room for Boeing Starliner crew Here's what Boeing Starliner astronauts are doing on the ISS as NASA works on their ride home
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NASA將試圖收回損壞的太空艙;太空人將繼續留在太空站 --- Jackie Wattles
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這篇報導更正了本欄上一篇文章的標題。 NASA finally gives Boeing Starliner capsule a return date. But it will fly home without its crew Jackie Wattles, CNN, 08/30/24 After 12 weeks in space, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally set to return home from the International Space Station on September 6 — albeit without its two-person crew. The troubled spacecraft will undock from the orbiting laboratory around 6 p.m. ET, and it will spend about six hours maneuvering closer to home before landing around midnight in New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor. The astronauts who rode aboard Starliner to the space station on June 5, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will remain on board the orbiting laboratory. NASA announced on August 24 that experts were wary of gas leaks and issues with the Starliner capsule’s propulsion system, leading the agency to determine the spacecraft is not safe enough to finish its mission with crew on board. “The uncrewed Starliner spacecraft will perform a fully autonomous return with flight controllers at Starliner Mission Control in Houston and at Boeing Mission Control Center in Florida,” according to a NASA update posted Thursday. “Teams on the ground are able to remotely command the spacecraft if needed through the necessary maneuvers for a safe undocking, re-entry, and parachute-assisted landing in the southwest United States.” How the Starliner vehicle performs during its return trip could be crucial to the future of the overall Boeing program. If the spacecraft experiences a mishap or NASA ultimately decides not to certify the vehicle for human spaceflight — a step that would set up the vehicle to make routine trips to orbit — it would mark yet another blow to Boeing’s already damaged reputation. Repeating this test flight and implementing redesigns on Starliner could cost the company millions of dollars — on top of the roughly $1.5 billion the company has already recorded in losses on the Starliner program. “All of us really wanted to complete the (Boeing Starliner) test flight with crew, and I think unanimously we’re disappointed not to be able to do that,” Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, said last week. But “you don’t want that disappointment to weigh unhealthily in your decision.”
Even if Starliner’s uncrewed return trip goes well, NASA will still face a crucial decision on whether to grant the spacecraft its human spaceflight certification even though it did not complete its mission as intended. Throughout the weeks that engineers on the ground worked to understand the thruster issues and leaks plaguing the Starliner, Boeing maintained that it believed the vehicle would be safe to bring astronauts Williams and Wilmore home. In a statement on August 24, Boeing said that it “continues to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft. We are executing the mission as determined by NASA, and we are preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.” Williams and Wilmore will now fly home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule no earlier than February. The Crew Dragon spacecraft has been certified to fly astronaut missions for about four years and has made about a dozen crewed trips to orbit. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
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