on the job, he anticipates he’ll become a lot more emotional the closer the spacecraft gets to completion. “The work can be bolt to bolt and rivet to rivet, but then it’s, ‘Wow, this is working, this is so cool, I can’t wait for it to launch,’ ” Allen said. “There’s a different sense of pride when your vehicle flies.” Starliner is one of the programs credited with re-energizing Kennedy Space Center, which hasn’t offered manned spaceflight since the space shuttle program was completed in 2011. American astronauts have had to travel to the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The idea that the U.S. will transport humans to space again has been a big motivator for Boeing employees currently readying Starliner. “It’s very important to return the U.S.’ ability to launch people to space on an American-built system—it’s a major factor,” said Joel Andriola, a nine-year Boeing technician. “Our spacecraft has a lot of capabilities.” Starliner will provide a better value to the American taxpayer than the $81 million per seat that NASA currently pays Russia to fly to the space station on a Soyuz, said Chris Ferguson, Boeing director of crew and missions operations and a former space shuttle commander. Costs roughly are determined by the proven reliability of the space vehicle, the expense of building a new service module each time and the continued upkeep of the crew module, such as replacing the heat shield and parachutes after each flight, he said. Starliner will be unique for its Photo: Software engineers Dave Chever, left, and Gene Brotherton are responsible for keeping the computer systems operational in the Boeing Mission Control Center at Kennedy Space Center. 24 | BOEING FRONTIERS ability to operate as a fully automated spacecraft yet switch to manual control if necessary, Ferguson added. “It’s an interesting challenge,” he said. “We’ve found a fine blend of having a vehicle that can be piloted by an astronaut and one very capable of operating on its own. Astronauts can be a backup-minded crowd— they always want to maintain that override capability.” When the time comes to show what it can do, Starliner will leave the factory and travel nearly seven miles (11 kilometers) aboard a transporter to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Station, stopping briefly to be mated to a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility. For nearly two years, United
Frontiers October 2016 Issue
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