A contractor for Nasa urged the space agency to conduct more safety checks before the highly-anticipated first launch of its Starliner rocket – which is set to take off as soon as next week – "before something catastrophic happens".
ValveTech, a contractor that supplies Nasa with valve components for the Starliner aircraft, warned against the imminent launch on 17 May.
The last launch, slated for 6 May, was scrubbed two hours before takeoff due to a valve issue.
The Starliner is designed to transport people to and from the International Space Station as well as other low-Earth-orbit destinations.
"As a valued Nasa partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad," ValveTech president Erin Faville said in a press release.
"According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed by someone walking by the Starliner minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its lifecycle," Ms Faville wrote.
She urged Nasa to "re-double safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before something catastrophic happens to the astronauts and to the people on the ground," Ms Faville added.
This is the latest bout of bad news for Boeing, which has made repeated headlines recently over its aircraft defects.
The contractor then turned to a separate issue, brought up in a federal court November 2023 decision. The court found that Boeing had used a valve from another contractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne, which "breached multiple non-disclosure agreements" when it took from ValveTech's designs and technology.
A witness at the trial warned that the Aerojet valve was "not qualified to the right specifications and not evaluated to ensure safety protocols," the press release states.
So, the press release continued, ValveTech "continues to question how Nasa, Boeing and Aerojet could have qualified this valve for the mission without proper supporting data or previous history or legacy information", which "goes against aerospace-industry qualification protocols established by Nasa".
美国国家航空航天局的一家承包商敦促该航天局在备受期待的Starliner火箭首次发射之前，“在灾难性事件发生之前” 进行更多的安全检查，该火箭定于下周起飞。
为美国国家航空航天局提供Starliner飞机气门部件的承包商ValveTech警告说，即将于5月17日发射。
由于气门问题，原定于5月6日进行的最后一次发射在起飞前两小时被取消了。
Starliner旨在运送人们往返国际空间站以及其他低地轨道目的地。
ValveTech总裁艾琳·法维尔在一份新闻稿中说：“作为美国国家航空航天局的重要合作伙伴和阀门专家，我们强烈敦促他们不要尝试第二次发射，因为发射台有可能发生灾难。”
“据媒体报道，在发射前几分钟，有人在Starliner旁行走，注意到了表明阀门漏水的嗡嗡声。这种声音可能表明阀门已经过了其生命周期，” 法维尔女士写道。
法维尔补充说，她敦促美国国家航空航天局 “加倍安全检查并重新审查安全协议，以确保Starliner在宇航员和地面人员发生灾难性事件之前是安全的。”
对于波音来说，这是最新一轮坏消息，波音最近因飞机缺陷一再成为头条新闻。
然后，承包商转向了另一个问题，该问题在联邦法院2023年11月的裁决中提出。法院认定，波音使用了另一家承包商Aerojet Rocketdyne的阀门，该公司在从ValveTech的设计和技术中夺走时 “违反了多项保密协议”。
新闻稿指出，审判中的一名目击者警告说，Aerojet阀门 “不符合正确的规格，也没有进行评估以确保安全协议”。
因此，新闻稿继续说，ValveTech “继续质疑美国国家航空航天局、波音和Aerojet如何在没有适当的支持数据或以前的历史或遗留信息的情况下使该阀门有资格执行任务”，这 “违背了美国国家航空航天局制定的航空航天行业认证协议”。
