CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Boeing’s new astronaut capsule, Starliner, successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday after overcoming last-minute thruster issues that nearly derailed its first test flight with astronauts.
The 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) docking over the Indian Ocean capped more than a day of high drama for Boeing’s astronaut flight debut, which carried NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. “Nice to be attached to the big city in the sky,” Wilmore said once the docking was complete.
Williams, the first to enter the space station, danced her way in to music, followed by Wilmore snapping his fingers. They were warmly welcomed by the seven space station residents. “It was such a great welcome, a little dance party,” said Williams. “That’s the way to get things going.”
Starliner had faced issues even before reaching orbit. A small helium leak was discovered when the capsule launched with the two astronauts on Wednesday. Despite the problem, Boeing and NASA managers were confident in the propulsion system’s reliability. However, two additional helium leaks emerged hours into the flight, with a fourth discovered after docking. Five of the capsule’s 28 thrusters also failed, though the astronauts managed to restart four, providing enough safety margin to proceed. This forced Starliner to miss the first docking opportunity, leading it to circle the world for an extra hour before successfully docking.
NASA’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, clarified that the thruster issues were unrelated to the helium leaks and assured that, moving forward, “we have some tools in our toolkit to manage this.” He emphasized that the helium leaks posed no safety risks to the astronauts or the mission.
Helium is crucial for pressurizing Starliner’s thruster fuel lines, essential for maneuvering. Engineers devised a workaround for potential additional leaks in the system before liftoff, attributing the original leak to a faulty rubber seal, no bigger than a shirt button. Boeing program manager Mark Nappi reassured that there was ample helium reserve for the return trip.
After the space shuttles were retired, NASA contracted Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS. SpaceX began its service in 2020, while Boeing faced delays due to safety concerns and other issues. Stich noted that despite the current problems, a repeat of the astronaut test flight before certifying the capsule for regular use is not anticipated.
Boeing plans to keep Starliner at the space station for at least eight days before guiding it to a landing in the western United States.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
