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Down two thrusters, Boeing’s Starliner docks with space station

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Down two thrusters, Boeing’s Starliner docks with space station


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With two thrusters out and a balky thermal management system, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft efficiently docked with the Worldwide House Station on Friday night, finishing yet one more essential milestone in its uncrewed check flight after two failed makes an attempt.

Simply over 25 hours after lifting off from Cape Canaveral, the autonomous spacecraft, which didn’t have any astronauts on board, docked itself to the station at 8:28 p.m. Japanese time, overcoming glitches, as Boeing works to ultimately fly NASA astronauts on the capsule. Cheers broke out in mission management in celebration of what NASA referred to as a “historic” first docking with the station for the spacecraft.

The docking was initially scheduled for 7:10 p.m. however was delayed as controllers on the bottom labored to substantiate telemetry knowledge in addition to guarantee lighting situations have been perfect and communications have been steady. The docking was delayed once more after an issue with the mechanism Starliner makes use of to dock with the station compelled controllers to retract the system after which prolong it a second time to reset it.

On the best way to the station, two of Starliner’s 12 predominant thrusters failed shortly after launch and the spacecraft’s temperature management system additionally malfunctioned. However neither downside prevented the docking, and the thrusters carried out nicely throughout maneuvers for the reason that launch put it into place for the docking.

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Boeing blamed the thruster downside on a drop in stress within the thruster chamber. However the firm additionally stated the capsule’s flight management system routinely fired a 3rd thruster as a backup, which accomplished the burn.

In a post-docking briefing with reporters, Steve Stich, NASA’s industrial crew program supervisor, stated there have been additionally issues with a few the smaller thrusters used to place the spacecraft for docking. “We have now plenty of redundancy so that actually didn’t have an effect on the rendezvous operations in any respect or have an effect on the remainder of the flight,” he stated. “I do know after the flight, we’ll go research the failures there and see what occurred.”

Mark Nappi, a Boeing vp who oversees the Starliner program, stated it was “a terrific day” for the corporate and for NASA to have one other spacecraft able to flying astronauts to the station. He added that it “was actually nail-biting watching that automobile sit on the market for a short time till it was time to return in. So plenty of very glad of us within the Boeing program right now due to what we noticed.”

He stated it was not completely clear what brought on the issue with the drop in stress and added that for the reason that thrusters are situated on the service module, which is discarded through the return flight, “we might by no means know what the true reason for that is.”

Boeing additionally stated it was persevering with to watch issues with the thermal management system, which is designed to maintain the capsule’s techniques on the proper temperature because it flies via the vacuum of area. Spokesman Steve Siceloff stated throughout a reside broadcast of the docking that the corporate had been in a position to overcome the issue by making “guide changes to the cooling system that might usually be automated.”

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“That is all a part of the training course of for working Starliner in orbit,” he stated.

In an announcement, Boeing stated the spacecraft “continues to carry out nicely.”

The flight is a check to see how the automobile performs earlier than NASA permits its astronauts to fly aboard. Boeing has been working to finish the flight since 2014, when NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to develop spacecraft able to ferrying astronauts to the area station and again.

SpaceX flew its check flight with out crew in March 2019 and has flown 5 missions with NASA astronauts on board since, 4 of them with a full complement of 4 crew members.

Boeing, in contrast, has stumbled repeatedly. On its first try at an uncrewed check flight, the spacecraft suffered software program and communication issues that reduce its mission brief earlier than it may rendezvous with the station. It took 18 months earlier than the corporate tried once more, however that flight didn’t even get off the bottom final August when engineers found that 13 valves within the service module have been caught within the closed place.

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Boeing stated it has since fastened that downside, brought on when propellant seeped via a valve and blended with ambient moisture that led to corrosion.

As for Friday’s docking, the corporate stated the capsule’s techniques — steerage and navigation, flight software program, communications and energy era — have been all performing nicely.

The capsule is anticipated to remain docked to the station for 4 or 5 days earlier than coming again to Earth.

If that goes nicely, Boeing and NASA will look to fly a crew on the automobile for the primary time close to the tip of this yr or early subsequent yr.



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Washington

Watch Live: Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral in Washington

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Watch Live: Former President Jimmy Carter's state funeral in Washington


Six days of memorial tributes to former President Jimmy Carter will conclude on Thursday starting with a state funeral in Washington attended by all of Carter’s living successors and ending with a private ceremony back in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

The state funeral will begin at 10 a.m.

Read more about that funeral here and view today’s full schedule here.



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Pepco releases details after dogs electrocuted in Northwest DC

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Pepco releases details after dogs electrocuted in Northwest DC


“The dogs were just walking by, and the concierge is like, ‘Hey, they’re yelping and they’re screaming as they come through the door.’”

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Edward Daniels described the incidents constituents brought to his attention back in 2021.

He said Pepco was asked to investigate after people reported their dogs received electric shocks as they walked into or near an apartment building in the 300 block of Tingey Street Southeast.

Daniels said a Pepco investigation discovered no wiring or other problems.

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What to his best guess may have been strong static shocks appeared to go away after the building put down rubber mats in the entryway.

When he saw News4’s story about two dogs fatally electrocuted in front of 1140 19th St. Northwest in separate incidents Monday, Daniels remembered what the weather was like when dogs were getting shocked in Navy Yard.

“It was always winter time, always winter time right around the snowfall and around the same conditions that we have on the ground now.”

Pepco had a large and active presence in the 1100 block of 19th Street Northwest Tuesday as crews tried to figure out what caused the apparent electrocution deaths of two dogs hours apart.

One was King, a boxer.

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He was a beloved pet and support dog for 20-year-old Neko Williams, who told News4 what he felt when he kneeled down to try and help the dog he called his “baby brother.”

“I felt electricity on the ground and throughout his body,” he said.

In an updated statement, Pepco said, “Crews conducted an inspection of the 1100 block of 19th St. NW and have confirmed that there is no stray voltage in the area and the area is safe.

Pepco is conducting a thorough investigation of this incident to understand what took place and what may have caused this issue.

This investigation will include industry peers and third-party experts.

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We expect the full investigation to take approximately 60 days (about 2 months.)”

Daniels said he’d like to see some sort of task force to look into incidents like this and get to the bottom of what’s happening.



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Washington Commanders receive good news across the board on Wednesday injury report | Sporting News

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Washington Commanders receive good news across the board on Wednesday injury report | Sporting News


The Washington Commanders’ week is off to a promising start as they prepare for their Sunday night playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On Wednesday’s injury report, nearly every key player was a full go.

Most notable is the status of quarterback Jayden Daniels, who was pulled from the second half of Week 18 against the Dallas Cowboys due to leg soreness. It seems as if this injury is minor enough that Daniels would have played through it had the Commanders not already locked up their playoff berth, so this shouldn’t come a surprise. Nonetheless, it is reassuring.

Marshon Lattimore was also a full participant, which is more surprising given that he missed the regular season’s final two games — as well as four previous ones — with a hamstring injury. Lattimore will be one of Washington’s most important players against Tampa Bay, an opponent he’s well familiar with, and he’ll need to shake off the rust after only appearing in two regular-season contests for the Commanders following his trade from the New Orleans Saints.

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Additionally, it has to be a sigh of relief for Commanders fans to see Frankie Luvu as a full go. He went down in Week 18 with a shoulder injury but later returned to the game, and it seems he is none the worse for wear. Luvu has been one of Washington’s most consistent playmakers on the defensive side of the ball this season, accounting for 99 tackles, eight sacks, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

A few Commanders were held out of the session, including WR Terry McLaurin and TE Zach Ertz, though both are listed with non-injury-related “rest” distinctions. A bit more concerningly, among those limited in practice were offensive linemen Tyler Biadasz and Brandon Coleman, as well as safety Jeremy Chinn.

Washington will need to hope for as many available bodies as possible for Sunday, when the Commanders seek their first playoff victory in 19 years. The team they beat back on Jan. 7, 2006? The Buccaneers.



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