[Epoch Times, May 21, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Wang Xiang compiled and reported) Boeing’s “Starliner” capsule docked with the International Space Station for the first time on Friday (May 20), in an unmanned flight Under the circumstance, the difficult task of entering the orbital test flight was completed.
The CST-100 “Starliner” rendezvous with the International Space Station, which currently has a crew of seven, was launched from the US Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This marks a major milestone in Boeing’s quest to put astronauts in and out of orbit.
The “Starliner” lifted off on Thursday (19th) on an Atlas V rocket of the Boeing-Lockheed-Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA), despite the failure of two onboard thrusters. After 31 minutes, it reached the intended preliminary orbit.
The docking with the ISS occurred at 8:28 p.m. ET Friday, when the spacecraft and the space station met about 270 miles (436 kilometers) above the southern Indian Ocean, according to commentators on NASA’s webcast.
This is a historic moment for Boeing. Boeing signed a multibillion-dollar contract with NASA in 2014 to use the Starliner to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Friday’s successful docking showed that the capsule could indeed enter the orbiting laboratory — the first time Boeing has successfully completed a mission.
During its first test flight in December 2019, the spacecraft nearly failed due to a software glitch that largely affected the spacecraft’s ability to reach the space station.
Boeing said it eventually fixed the problem with a temporary workaround and plans to redesign it after this week’s flight.
The launch was not all smooth sailing. First, shortly after liftoff on Thursday, the ground found that the Starliner thruster failed during its critical orbital entry, burning up 31 minutes after liftoff, but the temperature of the capsule remained stable and A smooth switch to the backup booster provides power.
The flight was uncrewed, but there was a research dummy as a passenger in a blue flight suit strapped to the commander’s seat to collect data on crew compartment conditions during the trip, plus 800 lbs (363 lbs.) kilograms) to the space station.
The capsule is scheduled to leave the space station next Wednesday (25th), return to Earth, and finally land in the New Mexico desert.
If all goes well with the current mission, Starliner could send its first crew of astronauts to the space station as early as the fall. The space station is currently headed by a crew of three NASA astronauts, one European Space Agency astronaut from Italy and three Russian astronauts.
Since resuming crewed flights from U.S. soil to orbit in 2020, NASA has relied on billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule to fly NASA astronauts .
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei