After weeks of troubleshooting, NASA and Boeing officials say they better understand the issues plaguing the Starliner spacecraft, but still aren’t ready to name a return date.
tl;dr
Heat building up inside the thrusters may be causing Teflon seals to bulge, restricting the flow of propellant.
Thank you for the TLDR. Was there no time on the schedule, in the many, many, ~~~~many years of lead up and cashing NASA checks, when Boeing could have stress tested those seals to failure?
Depends on a lot of things. Most orgs will use published data for what they’re choosing to use. More or less standard hardware is less likely to be sent to MR&D for testing
Thank you for the TLDR. Was there no time on the schedule, in the many, many,
~~~~manyyears of lead up and cashing NASA checks, when Boeing could have stress tested those seals to failure?Boeing:
Depends on a lot of things. Most orgs will use published data for what they’re choosing to use. More or less standard hardware is less likely to be sent to MR&D for testing