When Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft launches in 2018 it will experience a variety of tremendous internal and external forces. But it won’t be for the first time.
Initial testing on the full-scale crew module Structural Test Article (STA) is occurring at a Boeing lab test facility in Huntington Beach, Calif. The first test, completed Dec. 22, involved pressurizing the interior of the crew module to 1.5 times what the maximum pressure the production vehicle will face once in service. The results were positive.
“The team is pumped that the spacecraft performed as designed and as analytically predicted, taking us one step closer to flying safely, reliably and robustly in 2018,” said Chris Hardcastle, Boeing’s Integration & Test lead for the Starliner.
This was just the initial test. Over the next 11 months, test personnel will subject the STA to several phases of testing in the lab, using multiple configurations.
In February, testing will begin on the service module and the United Launch Alliance launch vehicle adapter that connects the Starliner to the Atlas V rocket.