By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returned home safely after its five-day stay on the International Space Station on Wednesday, completing a long-awaited test project that could pave the way for Starliner to release astronauts for the first time later this year.
After taking off from its port on the ISS on Wednesday afternoon, the spacecraft spent about 4 hours reducing its altitude. As it approached Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft ignited its thrusters in a glow of heat and speed before deploying parachutes to slow its descent. It landed in a cloud of sand at 6:49 p. m. ET in a remote New Mexico desert domain called White Sands, which has long been the site of aerospace and weapons testing.
The capsule landed three-tenths of a mile from the landing site, which webcast hosts described as “essentially a target. “
The capsule’s return marks a vital milestone for Boeing, which has spent years trying to change the program after a series of incidents and delays that tarnished the once-excellent reputation of the company’s business area.
That project consisted only of a model dressed in a spacesuit for this test project, but NASA and Boeing can ensure that the Starliner can bring its first load of NASA astronauts to the ISS until the end of 2022.
Officials plan to conduct a thorough review of the knowledge gathered during the trip, which detected some minor setbacks. They included challenges with 4 of the thrusters aboard the spacecraft, which orient and maneuver the vehicle as it flies into space. The thruster’s hitch didn’t have an effect on the overall project because the Starliner has backups, Boeing and NASA officials told reporters. with many technical blockages throughout its development.
In particular, the first attempt to send the Starliner on an orbital check in late 2019 had to be stopped, taking the vehicle directly to the ground rather than docking on the ISS, after software issues caused the vehicle to deviate from its trajectory. years of troubleshooting before the Starliner could return to the release platform. Then a more delayed sticky valve problem caused the capsule to fly again.
Despite its setbacks, NASA has subsidized Boeing, which is one of two corporations (the other being SpaceX) that the local company operated to build an astronaut-worthy spacecraft after the space shuttle program was pulled out in 2011. Boeing, NASA’s partner for decades, expected it to overtake SpaceX on the launch pad, Boeing is now its rival for two years. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft entered service in 2020 and has so far completed five missions for NASA.
“We intended to be very informed,” Boeing Starliner program manager Mark Nappi told reporters on Friday. “We will take this data and apply it in the progression of our spacecraft. We are very satisfied with what we have been told about how the team has reacted
NASA’s hope is that Boeing’s Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will give redundancy to its manned spaceflight program, meaning that if one spacecraft or another is found and emits and must be grounded, NASA may not be able to take the team to the ISS.
El-CNN-Wire™
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