Boeing Starliner astronaut capsule launched into space

The Boeing Starliner finally launched on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral with NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams for the first time after a series of years-long delays that had slowed the program. The Starliner is an astronaut capsule that is supposed to reusable up to ten times and includes an expendable service module. According to Boeing, ‘Wilmore and Williams are also the first to launch on an Atlas V rocket.’

The 25-hour flight is on its way to transport the two astronauts to the International Space Station, and Boeing said in a statement, “The launch marks the beginning of the NASA-Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT).”

The statement quoted Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO, Ted Colbert, as saying, ““This crew flight test represents the beginning of a new era of space exploration as we watch astronauts Wilmore and Williams put Boeing’s Starliner through its paces on the way to the International Space Station. This is a great start. We look forward to getting the astronauts safely to the space station and back home.”

The Starliner is also carrying 345 kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station and ‘Wilmore and Williams will spend about a week on station before returning to Earth.’

Boeing said the two astronauts will conduct a series of flight test objectives, including manually flying Starliner, adding that ‘Following a successful CFT, Boeing and NASA will continue working to certify Starliner for long-duration operational missions to the ISS.’

According to a separate note on manual manoeuvring, ‘although the spacecraft is usually autonomous, the crew used the hand controller to point and aim the spacecraft during about two hours of free-flight demonstrations.’ “We’ve also spun out the manual maneuvering and it is precise, much more so than even the simulator,” said Wilmore, CFT commander. “Stopping exactly on a number you want to stop on, the precision is pretty amazing.”

The Starliner’s nose was first pointed towards the Earth so that ‘its communications antenna on the on the back of the Service Module was pointed at the TDRS satellites.’

‘They then moved the Starliner so its solar array pointed at the sun to show they could charge the internal batteries, if ever needed. Next, they swung Starliner around and pointed the nose away from Earth to look at the stars. This was to show they can manually use the star trackers in the VESTA system to establish their attitude in space in case all three flight computers were to ever go out or be turned off at the same time. Then, they manually sped Starliner up and then slowed it down, which slightly raised and then lowered their orbit. This was to show that the crew could manually break away from the space station orbit during rendezvous, if necessary. Finally, the crew manually pointed Starliner in the orientation needed for entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, just in case they have to do that manually. During that maneuver, they again pointed the solar array at the sun to try a different method of confirming they can manually charge the batteries. There is more manual piloting to come for this “pilot’s spacecraft” with Wilmore and Williams on docking day, June 6.’

Starliner is intended to carry up to seven crew members and remain docked to the International Space Station for up to seven months. The Starliner program has faced multiple delays with initial unmanned test flights that were planned for 2017, ultimately taking place only in 2019 with limited success, which was finally successfully launched again only 2022. The manned flight test finally launched with the two astronauts on Wednesday.