“This fits with the general narrative that Boeing has lost its way,” McDowell said.
Starliner, like Crew Dragon, is a capsule-shaped spacecraft similar to the old Apollo program. The spacecraft, which can carry up to seven astronauts, is largely autonomous, requiring significant input only in emergencies. During a test mission starting tonight, Wilmore and Williams will test this contingency to see if the spacecraft can be deliberately thrown off course and manually returned to orbit, as well as test the spacecraft’s general life support and navigation systems. is planned to be evaluated. The spacecraft will undergo further tests while docked at the space station, including practicing using it as a lifeboat in case astronauts need to evacuate from the ISS.
Starliner is reusable, and Boeing says it can fly up to 10 missions. Unlike the Crew Dragon, this spacecraft does not have a toilet, and its habitable volume is about the same as her SUV, making it relatively comfortable to enter and exit orbit. Unlike the touchscreens used inside Crew Dragon, it has physical hand controls and switches for astronauts to control the spacecraft. Upon return, a heat shield protects the occupant from temperatures of approximately 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the vehicle then parachutes and, with the help of airbags that cushion his final fall, takes him to one of several desert landing sites. Land on one. we.
After this test mission, Boeing has a contract with NASA to launch Starliner to the ISS six times, each time carrying four or five astronauts and cargo and staying on the station for six months. Become. The spacecraft alternates missions with Crew Dragon, launching around February and launching around August each year. Having this redundancy is extremely beneficial, said Stephen Cisselov, public affairs specialist at NASA Kennedy Space Center. “This way, even if one spacecraft has a technical problem, it doesn’t mean the space station will be operating on its own for some time,” he says. “That means there are alternatives.”
Laura Forczyk, founder of space consulting firm Astralytical, said redundancy is “especially important now, when Russia’s credibility is low.” NASA and Russia’s space agency Roscosmos are collaborating on the ISS program, including sharing seats between Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft Crew Dragon and the current Starliner, despite the conflicting political situation between the two countries. continues.
However, beyond these six missions, Boeing has not made public its Starliner flight plans. “If this were SpaceX, Mr. Musk would be talking about the three or four deals he’s already signed with celebrities,” McDowell said. ISS is also configured Will go off track in 2030, this could mean Starliner may only be able to fly a few times, despite a decade of development and billions of dollars of investment. “At this point, we don’t know if Boeing has the ability to fly additional commercial missions,” Forchik said.
NASA is trying to accelerate the development of new commercial space stations, similar to this commercial crew program, in hopes of filling the gap in in-orbit research left after the station ends. If realized, these commercial broadcasters could become destinations for Starliner and Crew Dragon, although the exact motivation for this effort remains unclear. “Will there be enough of a market for him to sustain two entities doing this?” McDowell says. “I remain skeptical of a commercial space station. But even if it’s successful, we’ll need multiple options to keep it afloat.”
Before addressing its future, Boeing will just hope Starliner’s first manned flight goes smoothly and successfully. Once they finally reach the skies with humans on board, spacecraft can begin to fulfill the role they have long been expected to play.
Updated on May 7, 2024 at 10:30am BST: New launch time details for the mission have been added after the original May 6 launch was scrubbed.
