Boeing's space station catches up to Boeings Starliner

Boeing's Starliner crew capsule makes a second test flight in a. Third attempt after a series of struggles and starts Friday‚ the International Space Station finally reached its destination and docked successfully in what was a significant milestone for the long-delayed spacecraft. The Starliner‚ an unpiloted Starliner‚ approached the laboratory complex from the front. It used a high-tech robot vision system to locate the station. After stopping for position checks‚ it then reloaded its docking mechanism. Finally‚ the Starliner glided into the forward port of the labs at 8:28 PM EDT. Although no astronauts were aboard the Starliner Starliner Starliner at the time‚ NASA and Boeing used the opportunity to fly 500 pounds worth of supplies and equipment along with Rosie‚ the Rocketeer. This instrumented mannequin collects data about the cabin environment that astronauts will encounter during their operational flight. The International Space Station camera captured stunning head-on images of the Boeing Starliner crew capsule during its arrival for docking on Thursday. NASA Credit We are grateful to all the ops crew for their outstanding work. Station astronaut Robert Hines radioed the Johnson Space Center flight controllers. History will always remember great achievements in human spaceflight. It will not be different today. Hines also expressed his gratitude to Starliner's commander Rosie‚ the Rocketeer and to all those who put their heart and souls into the mission and the vehicle. NASA's post-shuttle drive to provide independent space access for U.S. astronauts and their partners took a visible shape with the arrival of Starliners at the station. Two commercial crew cars from Boeing and SpaceX docked simultaneously at the laboratory. Jim Chilton (Boeing senior vice president of space launch)‚ stated that Starliner had demonstrated safe and autonomous rendezvous capabilities. It was an honor to be part of the commercial spacecraft that can transport NASA's astronauts to space. Around 11:45 am Saturday‚ the Starliner crew will open hatches. The astronauts will remove all onboard equipment and supplies‚ and load the capsule with experiments and gear to return engineers and researchers. All going well‚ the spacecraft will dock next Wednesday to make a fiery dive back to Earth‚ and then land at White Sands in New Mexico‚ via a parachute. Thursday's eagerly awaited docking took place more than an hour longer than planned. This was because flight controllers spent extra time checking the Starliners position using instrumentation‚ and retracting and reextending the capsules docking mechanism. This dramatic photo shows a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry vessel at the right‚ while Boeings Starliner approaches the space station at the far left. NASA Credit To the relief of both flight controllers as well as the astronauts who were up until midnight to help with Starliners' arrival‚ the last push towards docking was successful. Mission control called to thank you for your great job. Now‚ go to bed and we look forward to ingress tomorrow. It was a pleasure to work with you and your Boeing team. We look forward to tomorrow's ingress. If all goes according to plan‚ Boeing will launch a Starliner to carry an astronaut crew into space on a piloted test flight. NASA will then ferry astronauts from and to the laboratory using SpaceX Crew Dragon capsules as well as Starliner ferry vessels. First‚ Boeing must complete an unpiloted flight test. Launched Thursday The Starliner was launched from Cape Canaveral on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Despite the premature shutdowns of two thrusters and the automatic switching to another jet at the rocket pad‚ it reached its initial orbit. Engineers were also monitoring the cooling issue in the spacecraft‚ which appeared to have stabilized after it reached orbit. However‚ overnight the cooling loops in both capsules developed problems. Flight controllers managed to control them manually. Boeing stated that the Starliners navigation‚ control‚ and guidance system worked normally. Flight software ran smoothly and communication was good through NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite systems. Power levels also were acceptable. The spacecraft also performed a number of demonstration thruster firings. This confirmed the ship's ability to maintain its position‚ perform rendezvous abort procedures‚ and adjust its orbit. It also tested its electronic vision system‚ and NASA's docking mechanism. The Starliners' launching was almost two and a half years after Boeing attempted an unpiloted test-flight in December 2019.