back to article Boeing's Calamity Capsule returns to Earth without a crew

Boeing's Calamity Capsule has returned to Earth, bringing to an end a test mission that did not go entirely according to plan. Not least because the Starliner's crew had to stay behind aboard the International Space Station. New to the Starliner drama? We recapped it here for you. That Boeing's CST-100 Starliner's return to …

  1. Headley_Grange Silver badge

    "I want to recognize the work the Starliner teams did to ensure a successful and safe undocking, deorbit, re-entry, and landing."

    "Successful" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

    1. alisonken1

      "Successful" as in "did not damage the ISS on leaving and hit the spot we aimed for on landing."

      So, not _real_ heavy duty lifting, but some lifting, yes.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ""Successful" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here."

      Well, you can give them "Successful", but "safe" ? Not so much. It was a lucky shot that's all !

  2. Alien Doctor 1.1

    uh oh

    "Boeing's Calamity capsule returns to earth without a crew"

    Where's Quatermass when you need him?

    Additionally, which bright spark named it "Calamity"

    1. diodesign (Written by Reg staff) Silver badge

      Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

      Oh, we did. It's officially called the Starliner.

      C.

      1. Evil Auditor Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        Well done! Although, Boeing* speaking for itself, wouldn't it be fully sufficient to simply call it... Boeing's Capsule?

        * Yes, I know, different organisation/subsidiary that produces commercial aircraft. But for the sake of a bad joke...

      2. Spherical Cow Silver badge

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        I've been calling it the Star-linger, although I might have to change that now it's no longer lingering at the ISS.

      3. Alien Doctor 1.1

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        Sorry old chap, I was only trying to be funny on a Saturday afternoon and after a couple of Guinnesses whilst watching Currie Cup rugby.

        1. Yorick Hunt Silver badge
          Headmaster

          Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

          That's just wrong!

          Kilkenny is for rugby.

          Guinness is for cricket.

          Now go sample a half-dozen of each to get properly synchronised!

      4. Koffi1995

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        This particular Starliner capsule was named "Calypso" - a fitting name, since Calypso from Greek mythology was a nymph who kept Odysseus stranded on an island for much longer than he intended to stay

        1. Doctor Evil

          Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

          Lucky sod! I'd like to be kept stranded on an island by a nymph ...

          1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
            Thumb Up

            Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

            "Lucky sod! I'd like to be kept stranded on an island by a nymph ..."

            o! :-)

            1. Bebu
              Windows

              Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

              "Lucky sod! I'd like to be kept stranded on an island by a nymph ..."

              My luck it would be with Circe. ;)

        2. Alan Brown Silver badge

          Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

          And Calypso music is reknowned for the musicians just making it up as they go along

      5. xyz Silver badge

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        You should have spelt it with a "K" though...

        Kalamity Kapsule in honour of this old black and white film, cop chases with the mad music.

        1. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
          FAIL

          Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

          Krewed Kalamity Kapsule. Or KKK. Oh, that's not good (Stolen: Krusty's Komedy Klassic).

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

            KKK thats the spaceX musktwat ones

      6. Alistair
        Windows

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        I'll point out that Nasa and Boeing refer to this unit itself as Calypso .... So Calamity works well

      7. herman Silver badge

        Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

        At least it narrowly avoided being the Catastrophe Capsule, since the test pilots are still alive.

        1. Ian Johnston Silver badge

          Re: Which bright spark named it "Calamity"

          It will be the ultimate irony if the Dragon capsule bringing them back up fails and burns up on re-entry.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
        Boffin

        Re: uh oh

        If the priority was to get them home, there are multiple ways that could have been achieved already. Including having them laying in the cargo area of the crew dragon that's up there or indeed risking the starliner with its unknown thruster performance. There were valid contingencies for emergency situations.

        But the priority was to debug starliner. And as ever with the ISS, doing science stuff. Crew schedules are some way down the list.

      2. MyffyW Silver badge

        Re: uh oh

        No blackout, and indeed Soyuz continues to be a valid means of access for East and West. It's just best left there for a real emergency, whilst this is a (sadly rather typical) Boeing snafu.

        1. Snapper

          Re: uh oh

          Plus it's only got 3 berths!

          There's 7 crew up there now, so 4 would have to sit in the windy seats in a 'real' emergency.

          1. Casca Silver badge

            Re: uh oh

            velcro class.

            1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
              Megaphone

              Re: uh oh

              velcro class.

              Shut up! Don't give Ryanair ideas!

      3. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: uh oh

        The return plan for the Starliner crew in case of emergency is for them to hang out on the cargo pallets in the back of the Dragon capsule. Soyuz MS-25 is already full. It only has 3 seats and those barely fit. Absolutely no room to get anyone else in. Soyuz MS-26 will be launching in 2 days (if all goes as planned) and will bring 3 new people up. So also not an option to return the starliner crew.

        I don't know what you're smoking, but you might want to adjust your tinfoil hat and do some thinking. Soyuz isn't a solution for the problem at hand

      4. Alan Brown Silver badge

        Re: uh oh

        Rentry in a soyuz (and hitting the ground!) is rough enough that astronaut-specific seats are required (along with suits that fit)

        In a true emergency one might take that risk, but the passengers could count on several broken bones at minimum

        1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: uh oh

          Bungy cords from the ceiling= simple

  3. Grunchy Silver badge

    What’s the point?

    Apparently there is some worthwhile thing you can do in freefall microgravity, I wonder what that thing is?

    Because I genuinely don’t see the point of the space station!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What’s the point?

      You're welcome to do without the benefits and the inventions the space program has brought over the years.

      1. Ian Johnston Silver badge

        Re: What’s the point?

        Could you name six of these benefits which would not have been achieved by spending similar amounts of money on earth-bound endeavour?

        1. collinsl Silver badge

          Re: What’s the point?

          No, because that's a counterfactual history so we would not be able to ever know if anyone would or would not have developed the inventions were it not for the space program.

          Feel free to invent a casuality-breaking time machine to go back and find out what happened in an alternate reality.

        2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: What’s the point?

          >Could you name six of these benefits

          Distracting the public from your presidential private life

          Amortization of the costs of ICBM development

          Strategic investment in aircraft makers without being a communist

          Gives retired Nazi rocket scientists something to do

          Gives redundant Soviet rocket scientists something to do

          Allows people to run for office with a suitably macho story if we hadn't had any successful wars recently

    2. Anonymous Coward Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: What’s the point?

      What's the point of this "wheel" thing? I can get from here to there on foot, I don't need wheels. If I don't see any benefit to me, there surely can't be any benefit for anyone else either.

      /sarcasm

      1. collinsl Silver badge
    3. Patrician
      FAIL

      Re: What’s the point?

      How very short sighted and unimaginative of you!

    4. Roj Blake Silver badge

      Re: What’s the point?

      "And what good is a baby?"

      - Michael Faraday, when asked about the point of this newfangled electricity.

  4. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    FAIL

    "Boeing is committed to continue their work with us."

    Of course it is, it wants the subsidies and the fat contract.

    On the other hand, it acts like a spoiled brat. Boeing didn't attend the briefing ? What pathetic man-child decided that that was a professional attitude to have ?

    If it was up to me, Boeing would be stricken from the list of partners of NASA in general, period.

    1. David Hicklin Bronze badge

      Re: "Boeing is committed to continue their work with us."

      >..it wants the subsidies and the fat contract.

      With that it has cost so far and a fixed price contract, I doubt that this is the case here

      1. Steve Channell
        FAIL

        Re: "Boeing is committed to continue their work with us."

        more specifically, they don't want to return the money they got from NASA for "R&D"

  5. The Dogs Meevonks Silver badge

    Are we going to see any 'accidents' befalling anyone who dares to criticise or leak the failings within the company that led to this disaster of a 'trial'.

  6. Alan Mackenzie

    Helium?

    What was the purpose of the helium they were carrying? I mean, if they simply didn't have it on board, it couldn't have leaked. What was it for?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Helium?

      It's to maintain the weird voices during comms. Why do you think they otherwise still sound like that after we've had a good decade of high fidelity voice communication?

      :)

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Helium?

        Yes, it's all down to the voice punch line at the very end :-)

    2. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

      Re: Helium?

      It's to keep pressure in the fuel system. Gas pressure is less complex than pumps.

      Providing, of course, your seals are working correctly.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Helium?

        Providing, of course, your seals are working correctly.

        That's the whole problem, right there. Seals don't like being in space much, but I guess it's one way to avoid clubbing Canadians..

        1. Patrician

          Re: Helium?

          They were leaking before it launched though.

          1. MachDiamond Silver badge

            Re: Helium?

            "They were leaking before it launched though."

            It always leaks. He is smaller than H as H likes to pal around with a friend (H2) and He is happy on it's own. The problems are seals on things like valves that have to move.

            Other gases could be used that won't react with what they are pressurizing, but the mass of the compressed gas can be significant. A vehicle I worked on used Nitrogen to pressurize the fuel and He to pressurize the Lox (can't use Nitrogen with Oxygen) and just the difference in mass to switch to all He was over 6kg on a small test lander. We also slimmed the plumbing down by 1/3 which saved even more. The cost of the gasses was the reason to go with a dual system in the beginning and leakage was another issue.

        2. Alan Brown Silver badge

          Re: Helium?

          Or overly romantic walruses (walrii?)

  7. sanwin

    I wonder if the astronauts selected for the next Boeing launch will decline.

    "Its a Boeing - I ain't going"

  8. Ace2 Silver badge

    “The navigation system also temporarily had difficulty acquiring a GPS signal as the spacecraft came out of the plasma generated by reentry.”

    Same as my usual response… it’s amazing any of this stuff works at all.

  9. Tron Silver badge

    A lengthy period in space is not good for human health.

    So how much compensation are Boeing going to pay those two unfortunate prisonauts?

    1. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

      Re: A lengthy period in space is not good for human health.

      From Spaceflight Now:

      By the time they return to Earth around Feb. 22, Wilmore and Williams, who originally expected to spend about eight days in orbit, will have logged more than eight-and-a-half months in space.

      NASA astronaut Frank Rubio faced a similar dilemma in 2022 when his six-month stay aboard the station was extended to more than a full year because of problems with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that carried him to orbit.

      “I think going from six months to 12 months is tough, but it’s not as tough as going from eight days to eight months,” Rubio said in an interview with CBS News. Asked how Wilmore and Williams took the news of their extension, he said “they’re doing great.”

      “Certainly, there’s a little part of you that’s disappointed,” he added. “It’s okay to acknowledge that. But you also can’t mope around for the entire time, right? … You just have to kind of dedicate and rededicate yourself to the mission.”

      Now it might just be me, but if I were sent to the ISS for eight days but instead was accidentally left there for eight months, I wouldn't be complaining too loudly. It's undoubtedly different for veterans with earthbound responsibilities, but you joined the human spaceflight program to get into space, after all, and the more spaceflight the better, right?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A lengthy period in space is not good for human health.

        "Now it might just be me, but if I were sent to the ISS for eight days but instead was accidentally left there for eight months, I wouldn't be complaining too loudly."

        Particularly if the deal went on this way:

        - initially it was 8 days

        - now you have the choice:

        - stick to the plan with 50% chances of being incinerated alive in a fucked-up capsule but keep Boing stakeholders happy (won't be their problem, is a NASA accident)

        - stay for 8 more months there with 99% returning home alive, but crash the Boing shares

        I think it was a no-brainer for the astronnauts ...

        1. Ken G Silver badge

          Re: A lengthy period in space is not good for human health.

          I'm sure they were consulted but not allowed make the decision. Any astronaut would be willing to take the risk.

        2. MachDiamond Silver badge

          Re: A lengthy period in space is not good for human health.

          "- stick to the plan with 50% chances of being incinerated alive in a fucked-up capsule but keep Boing stakeholders happy (won't be their problem, is a NASA accident)"

          The chance of an unsuccessful landing was nowhere near 50%. The difference with the unknown trustworthiness of the thrusters wasn't demonstrably greater than the risk of going in a capsule with no known issues according to Scott Manley who has been following all of the technical disclosures.

          8 months in space at their ages is going to mean a good year or more of physical therapy to recover as best as they can to good health. It's debilitating to spend extended amounts of time in space so it's not a bonus to have to stay longer than planned.

  10. StrangerHereMyself Silver badge

    Cargo

    I hear some noises on the interweb that the next Starliner flight will be a uncrewed cargo mission. I find that difficult to believe but alas, there you have it.

    I suspect that in the next few weeks we'll hear Boeing pulling out of the Commercial Crew Program despite assurances to the contrary.

  11. Homo.Sapien.Floridanus

    Astronauts: The capsule has left the station and now we’re stuck up here.

    Felix Baumgartner: Hold my beer.

    1. cookieMonster Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      I gave you an upvote, and here’s a second one. Well played.

      1. Homo.Sapien.Floridanus

        Thank you CookieMonster

    2. imanidiot Silver badge

      Jumping from a practically stationary balloon, versus jumping from something moving at orbital velocity (aprox 23 Mach) makes rather a lot of difference. I'd have preferred taking the risk on Starliner versus having to re-enter the atmosphere unprotected.

      1. MachDiamond Silver badge

        "Jumping from a practically stationary balloon, versus jumping from something moving at orbital velocity (aprox 23 Mach) makes rather a lot of difference."

        If you don't have the guts to be in the MI, the MI doesn't want you either.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    David Bowie

    Are there 2 David Bowie songs that are kind of appropriate here?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: David Bowie

      Scream like a Baby, 1980

      Hole in the Ground, 2021

  13. Annihilator

    GPS value

    "The navigation system also temporarily had difficulty acquiring a GPS signal as the spacecraft came out of the plasma generated by reentry."

    Genuinely curious, once it has a GPS signal is it using it for anything more than "I know where I am"? I'm assuming it doesn't have any steering capability once it's through that phase of reentry?

    1. Mishak Silver badge

      Re: GPS value

      I've not been able to find anything specific for Starliner, but it should be similar to Apollo - which had a reasonable cross range capability due to a lifting force generated by re-entry being at an angle (though working thrusters were also needed). A bit more info here

  14. MachDiamond Silver badge

    Elon missed out

    Elon could have put the private mission on hold and re-configured the Dragon to go to ISS. The PR would have been very useful for him as SpaceX is very far behind (again) on the HLS.

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