Boeing spacecraft reaches space for the third time
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams, who made her third space flight aboard a Boeing spacecraft, was seen dancing on arrival at the International Space Station (ISS). Here he hugged all the other astronauts.
Sunita Williams described the members of the ISS as her second family. "ISS is like a second home to me," he said while also thanking all the astronauts for the warm welcome.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore hug astronauts aboard the ISS.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore hug astronauts aboard the ISS.
Will be in space for a week
Docking was delayed by about an hour due to technical glitches such as a small helium leak. En route to the ISS, the crew completed a series of tests, including manually flying the Starliner into space for the first time. They will spend about a week in space, helping with various tests and conducting scientific experiments. On their way back to Earth from the Starliner, they plan to land on land instead of the ocean.
The Starliner spacecraft reached the ISS 26 hours after launch
Indian-origin astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore's spacecraft arrived at the space station at 11:03 p.m. on Thursday, 26 hours after launch. It was supposed to arrive at 9:45 pm on Thursday, but due to a problem with the reaction control thruster, it failed to dock on the first attempt. However, the spacecraft managed to dock with the space station in the second attempt.
Both astronauts became the first astronauts to go into space aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Boeing's Starliner mission was launched on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:22 pm Indian time. It was launched on ULA's Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Wilmore and Williams will remain on the space station for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and their subsystems. Sunita also helped design Boeing's spacecraft SUV-Starliner. The spacecraft can carry 7 crew-members. After the spacecraft was built, Sunita Williams named it Calypso.
If the mission is successful, NASA will have 2 spacecraft for the first time
If the mission is successful, America will have two spacecraft to send astronauts into space for the first time in history. Currently, America only has the Dragon spacecraft of Elon Musk's company SpaceX. In 2014, NASA awarded the contract to SpaceX and Boeing to build the spacecraft. SpaceX already built it 4 years ago.
Learn about Starline's journey from Earth to the space station and back to Earth in 9 points
Atlas V rocket will be launched. After 15 minutes the Starliner will release the spacecraft. The spacecraft's engines will fire and launch into orbit for a nearly 24-hour trip to the space station.
Starliner will dock at the forward port of the Harmony module. During its stay the crew will go inside the Starliner, close the hatches and demonstrate that the spacecraft can act as a "safe haven" in the event of a collision risk with future debris.
Wilmore and Williams will stay and work with the Expedition 71 crew for about a week before returning to Earth. Manual piloting of Starliner will be evaluated after undocking. The crew will spend about six hours from undocking to landing.
During re-entry into Earth's atmosphere the spacecraft will begin to decelerate to 28,000 km/h. During this time the crew can feel a load of up to 3.5 grams. After re-entry the spacecraft's forward heat shield will be removed to protect the parachute system.
Two drags and three main parachutes will further slow the Starliner down. The base heat shield will expose the dual airbag system. 6 primary airbags will deploy at the base of the capsule. This will act like a cushion during landing.
The speed of the spacecraft during landing will be around 6 km per hour. Possible landing sites include Wilcox in Arizona and Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Edwards Air Force Base in California is available as an emergency landing site.
After touchdown the crew will deploy parachutes, shut down spacecraft power and contact mission control landing and recovery teams via satellite phone call. The recovery team will set up a tent around the Starliner and pump cool air into the spacecraft.
The Starliner's hatch will open and less than an hour after landing, the two astronauts will board the medical vehicle for a health check. After that, they will reach the NASA plane in a helicopter. The plane will take them to Ellington Field in Houston.
After landing and successful recovery, NASA will complete the task of certifying the spacecraft as an operational crew system for missions to the space station. After certification, the mission is expected to launch in 2025.
