The Starliner spacecraft docked at the Harmony module of the International Space Station (ISS) at an altitude of 430 km above the Southern Indian Ocean, at 7:28 a.m. on May 21 (Hanoi time).
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on May 21. Image: NASA TV
Robert Hines, a NASA astronaut working on the ISS, opened the doors between the Starliner and the station at 23:04 yesterday, after the docking event was successful. This is a major milestone for Boeing and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which has chosen Boeing and SpaceX to send astronauts to the ISS since 2014.
The ISS station has up to three spacecraft used to carry people together, including Boeing’s Starliner, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Russia’s Soyuz, according to Hines. “This is a pivotal day in NASA’s history and pave the way for the future, as commercial flights take place in low Earth orbit while NASA visits the Moon and eventually Mars,” he said. .
SpaceX has made many crewed flights for NASA since May 2020, but Boeing has had more problems and so far has been able to successfully docking the Starliner with the ISS station.
Over the next few days, astronauts on the ISS will pick up 226 kg of cargo on the Starliner, then transfer 270 kg back to the ship to bring back to Earth. The Starliner doesn’t carry people, only a Boeing test dummy named Rosie the Rocketeer. Dressed in a Boeing blue spacesuit, the dummy will sit in the Starliner’s command seat for the return trip to Earth.
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren photographed a Rosie the Rocketeer dummy while Robert Hines worked alongside. The two astronauts entered the Starliner for the first time on May 21. Image: NASA TV
Rosie the Rocketeer equips sensors to measure the G-force exerted on the body during Starliner’s first test flight, OFT. This mission ended prematurely after Starliner experienced a series of problems and got stuck in the wrong orbit, unable to docking with the ISS station.
The current flight is named OFT-2. The sensor system is used to measure the forces exerted on the Starliner’s seats during revolving and landing. Starliner is expected to return to Earth after about 4-5 days docking with the space station. However, this time will be highly dependent on the weather at landing sites in the western US.
Thu Thao (According to Space)
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