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Old 21-05-2022, 11:49 PM
glend (Glen)
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Lake Macquarie
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More Starliner Thruster Problems

So the Boeing Starliner capsule had a couple of more thruster issues during its insertion burn to climb to ISS. NASA went ahead an allowed it to dock with ISS anyway.
It had already been decided , before the test mission, that the thruster valves would have to be redesigned. Apparently there is a corrosion issue, but they will never be able to examine today's faulty valves, as the thrusters are on the service collar that is discarded (To burn up in the atmo), when the capsule reentry starts.
Why is this such a concern? Because the thrusters provide ISS with maneuvering thrust when docked, in other words they need to work if the ISS has to move to avoid space junk. Both the Russion capsules and the SpaceX Dragon capsule do this without issue.
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