The Starliner spacecraft docked at the Harmony module of the International Space Station (ISS) at an altitude of 430 km over the South Indian Ocean at 7:28 AM on May 21 (Hanoi time).
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docks with the International Space Station (ISS) on May 21. Photo: NASA TV
NASA astronaut Robert Hines, who is currently working on the ISS, opened the hatch between the Starliner and the station at 11:04 PM yesterday, following a successful docking event. This milestone is significant for Boeing and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which has selected Boeing and SpaceX to transport astronauts to the ISS since 2014.
According to Hines, the ISS now has three crewed spacecraft docked: Boeing’s Starliner, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, and Russia’s Soyuz. “This is an important day in NASA’s history and paves the way for the future, as commercial flights occur in low Earth orbit while NASA explores the Moon and eventually Mars,” he stated.
SpaceX has conducted several crewed flights for NASA since May 2020, but Boeing has faced more challenges and has only recently succeeded in docking the Starliner with the ISS.
In the coming days, astronauts on the ISS will retrieve 226 kg of cargo from the Starliner, then transfer back 270 kg for the spacecraft to return to Earth. The Starliner is not carrying any crew but features a test dummy named Rosie the Rocketeer. Dressed in Boeing’s blue spacesuit, the dummy will occupy the command seat of the Starliner for the return journey to Earth.
NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren takes a photo of the Rosie the Rocketeer dummy while Robert Hines works nearby. The two astronauts entered the Starliner for the first time on May 21. Photo: NASA TV
Rosie the Rocketeer is equipped with sensors to measure the G-forces acting on the body during Starliner’s first test flight, OFT. This mission ended prematurely after the Starliner encountered a series of issues and became stranded in the wrong orbit, unable to dock with the ISS.
The current flight is named OFT-2. The sensor system is used to measure the forces acting on the seats of the Starliner during re-entry and landing. The Starliner is expected to return to Earth after approximately 4 to 5 days of docking with the space station. However, this timeline will heavily depend on the weather conditions at the landing sites in the western United States.
