Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, both NASA astronauts, created history by docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday. Their test flight mission validates that Boeing’s Starliner has the capability to deliver astronauts to the laboratory in space. The test flight, under Wilmore’s command, is piloted by Williams, both former U.S. Navy pilots. Williams performed very precise maneuvering of the spacecraft to correctly align with the multi-billion dollar space station using her exceptional skills.
The Starliner lifted off from the United States Space Force at Cape Canaveral in Florida atop the powerful Atlas -V rocket. The launch, which
was delayed by four days due to a literal last-minute glitch on account of a malfunction in the ground launch computer. This was the third time a launch had been scrubbed this year. Wednesday’s launch took the two astronauts and 500 pounds of supplies to the outpost 400 km above earth.
Starliner docked with the forward port of ISS’ Harmony module, a full 27 hours after liftoff. The docking had been delayed for over an hour due to issues related to five of the twenty-eight thrusters onboard the test spacecraft. Teams on earth were troubleshooting, by performing multiple resets and hot-firing the thrusters on the Starliner as it kept out of the 200- meter keep-out zone of the ISS. The remedial procedures were effective and four of the five thrusters sprang back to life. These thrusters are extremely critical for mission success as they control the precise movement of the spacecraft. Any error or misfiring of the thrusters can jeopardise the lives of the crew on both spacecraft and could potentially damage the structure and viability of the ISS.
After eight days in space, the Starliner will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere braving very high temperatures. It is expected to land on Earth with the help of three parachutes and an airbag. In an earlier test, one of the parachutes failed to deploy, although Boeing has since then fixed the issue. The successful landing will pave the way for Boeing to use its platform as a logistical route to the ISS. The certification has been pending since 2017. SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor in the Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has been moving astronauts and material to the ISS since March 2020. The program was introduced to remove dependency on the Russian Soyuz mission to the ISS, especially in light of rising tensions with Russia after the occupation of Crimea.
