{"id":10500,"date":"2022-05-21T23:16:46","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T15:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/boeings-starliner-capsule-completes-first-nail-biting-docking-at-space-station\/"},"modified":"2022-05-21T23:16:46","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T15:16:46","slug":"boeings-starliner-capsule-completes-first-nail-biting-docking-at-space-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/boeings-starliner-capsule-completes-first-nail-biting-docking-at-space-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsule completes first \u201cnail-biting\u201d docking at space station"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Russian cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov captured this view of the Starliner spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. Credit: Sergey Korsakov \/ Roscosmos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Boeing\u2019s Starliner crew capsule finally reached the International Space Station Friday night with a \u201cnail-biting\u201d rendezvous and docking, overcoming several technical glitches to accomplish a long-awaited objective for the spacecraft before NASA clears it to ferry astronauts to the research complex.<\/p>\n

The crew capsule docked at the forward end of the station\u2019s Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. EDT Friday (0028 GMT Saturday), using vision-based navigation to autonomously guide itself to the docking target.<\/p>\n

There were no astronauts on the Starliner spacecraft that docked Friday night, but the human-rated ship is designed to carry people to and from the space station. The Boeing crew carrier launched Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, beginning the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, a shakedown cruise for the gumdrop-shaped capsule.<\/p>\n

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft glided to a docking next to SpaceX\u2019s Dragon crew ferry ship, marking the first time NASA\u2019s two commercial crew contractors had capsules attached to the station at the same time.<\/p>\n

The docking marked a \u201cvery historic day\u201d for NASA\u2019s commercial crew program, said Steve Stich, the NASA manager who oversees the agency\u2019s fixed-price crew transportation contracts with Boeing and SpaceX. The contracts were signed after the retirement of NASA\u2019s space shuttle fleet, which left the United States without its own crew launch capability.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal was to have two redundant crew transportation systems,\u201d Stich said. \u201cThat\u2019s been our goal since inception, and today that goal became true when Starliner docked.\u201d<\/p>\n

NASA invested around $5 billion for design and development of the SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner crew capsules, plus billions more for transportation services once the spacecraft were certified for human flights.<\/p>\n

The companies also put in an unspecified level of private funding, a requirement under the public-private partnership arrangement pursued by NASA\u2019s commercial crew program since 2010.<\/p>\n

The Starliner program is running years late, following a 2019 test flight \u2014 known as OFT-1 \u2014 that was cut short by software problems, preventing the spacecraft from reaching the space station. Boeing tried to launch a redo of the 2019 test flight last August, but officials called off the launch after finding stuck valves in the capsule\u2019s propulsion system.<\/p>\n

With the software and valves woes resolved, Boeing\u2019s Starliner crew capsule lifted off Thursday, safely arrived in orbit, and made its way to the space station. The spacecraft persevered through several technical issues on the journey to the orbiting research outpost.<\/p>\n

The main technical problems so far on the OFT-2 mission include the failure of four rocket jets on the Starliner service module, pressure spikes inside two thermal coolant loops, and a hitch with the capsule\u2019s docking system discovered just before link-up with the space station.<\/p>\n

The 15-foot-wide (4.6-meter) Starliner spacecraft held position about 32 feet (10 meters) from the station for more than an hour, a delay primarily caused by a problem with a backup system on the NASA-designed docking mechanism on the nose of the crew capsule. Ground controllers retracted and re-extended the docking ring, reset the system, then gave the green light for Starliner to press in for docking.<\/p>\n

Starliner\u2019s thermal imaging navigation sensors \u2014 part of the spacecraft\u2019s Vision-based, Electro-Optical Sensor Tracking Assembly, or VESTA, system \u2014 gathered data on the range and closing rate between the spacecraft and the space station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology around VESTA is really amazing. It was really something to watch,\u201d said Mark Nappi, Boeing\u2019s Starliner program manager. \u201cAnd it was really nail-biting watching that vehicle sit out there for a while until it was time to come in. So a lot of very happy folks in the Boeing program today because of what we saw.\u201d<\/p>\n