CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – A Boeing crew capsule was launched into orbit on Thursday during a second test flight without astronauts after being grounded for years by flaws that could doom the spacecraft. There was only a test dummy on board.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – A Boeing crew capsule was launched into orbit on Thursday during a second test flight without astronauts after being grounded for years by flaws that could doom the spacecraft.
There was only a test dummy on board. If the capsule reaches the International Space Station on Friday and everything else goes well, two or three NASA test pilots could be hooked up by the end of this year or the beginning of next for the company’s first flight.
This is the third Boeing photo in the high-stakes demonstration.
At least this time Starliner reached the right orbit, quickly chasing the space station. But the most important meeting and the jump came out.
Starliner’s first test flight in 2019 was hit by such serious software bugs that the capsule ended up in the wrong orbit and had to miss the space station. The spacecraft was close to destruction as ground controllers hastily disrupted the mission.
After dozens of safety fixes, Boeing returned a different capsule to the launch pad last summer. The corroded valves stopped the countdown, which led to a new round of repairs.
The long-running test flight program costs Boeing approximately $ 600 million.
“We will not fly (crews) unless we feel we have redeemed the risk,” said NASA space chief Katie Luders on the eve of takeoff.
Boeing is seeking redemption as it tries to catch up with SpaceX, NASA’s other contracted taxi service. Elon Musk’s company flew with astronauts to and from the space station for two years and delivered cargo for a decade.
Eager to reduce its costly dependence on Russia to transport crews, NASA has hired Boeing and SpaceX to launch astronauts to the space station since the end of the shuttle program in 2011. That’s why it’s so important for Boeing’s Starliner to succeed, a NASA administrator said. Bill Nelson.
“In this case, we always want a backup,” Nelson told the Associated Press hours before takeoff.
Different in appearance, but similar in function to SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, Boeing’s fully automated capsule will try to dock in space alone. The astronauts at the station will be ready to control the capsule with a remote control if necessary.
Starliner will spend nearly a week on the space station before heading to land in the New Mexico desert.
NASA has not yet finalized which astronauts will be on Starliner’s first crew. The program was so backward that the first three withdrew. Leading candidates gathered at Cape Canaveral for the evening launch of the Starliner on top of the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.
“We’re excited because we’re next,” said astronaut Butch Wilmore.
In addition to Rosie the Rocket Search – a version of the space era of Rosie Riveter from World War II – the capsule carries food and equipment for space travel for the seven inhabitants of the station. US space travel has been delayed since an astronaut’s helmet took over in March. NASA is sending additional absorbent pads for use in helmets in case an emergency spacewalk is needed while the investigation continues.
Boeing also flies memories of historic black colleges and universities and tree seeds similar to the ones Apollo astronauts took to the moon, which became the so-called lunar trees here on Earth.
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The Associated Press’s Department of Health and Science receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Scientific Education. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Marsha Dunn, Associated Press
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