posted 05-19-2022 06:30 PM               

Boeing Starliner capsule lifts off to space station on second orbital flight test

The long-delayed second launch of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft got off to a better start than its first, with the uncrewed capsule now on its way to a docking with the International Space Station.

The Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) lifted off from Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday (May 19), two and a half years after software issues cut short Starliner's first attempt at reaching the space station. This time, the launch, at 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 GMT), went as planned, with a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket using its dual-engine Centaur upper stage to insert the capsule into an initial shallow orbit just shy of 15 minutes into the flight.

posted 05-20-2022 02:07 PM               

Starliner Proceeding Toward Space Station

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is proceeding toward the International Space Station on the NASA-Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2).

Boeing and NASA met as an Integrated Mission Management Team (IMMT) this afternoon (May 20) to review the status of the flight test and approved a plan to proceed toward the final phase of rendezvous and docking, which remains scheduled at 7:10 p.m. EDT.

Starliner successfully executed all of its autonomous demonstration burns as well as rendezvous and docking maneuvers, including:

• An abort maneuver demonstration
  
• Reaction Control System (RCS) attitude hold demonstration
  
• Abort execution maneuvers
  
• Phasing burn
  
• Far-field demonstration
  
• Vision-based, Electro-Optical Sensor Tracking Assembly (VESTA) system checkout
  
• NASA Docking System (NDS) cover open and system checkout

Flight control teams continue to learn more about the vehicle and about how it is operating in space, and it continues to perform well as it makes its way toward the station. The Guidance, Navigation and Control (GN&C) systems are performing nominally. Flight software is executing as designed. Power generation is positive. The spacecraft has good link connection with TDRS for commanding of the vehicle. Teams are investigating off-nominal behavior of a thermal cooling loop, however, the thermal subsystem is maintaining stable temperatures.

The teams also looked into the two Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thrusters that shut off early during the orbital insertion (OI) burn. The teams have concluded that a chamber drop in pressure caused the cutoff. That system operated normally during all of the propulsion system demonstrations, and with redundancies in place, does not pose a risk to the rest of the flight test.

posted 05-20-2022 08:03 PM               

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner achieves first docking with space station

Starliner has arrived at the space station.

An achievement long in coming, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station for the first time on Friday (May 20).

The uncrewed capsule autonomously linked up with the Boeing-built international docking adapter on the forward-facing port of the space station's Harmony node at 8:28 p.m. EDT (0028 GMT on May 21).

posted 05-21-2022 12:42 PM               

Astronauts Open Starliner Hatch to ISS

Floating inside the Harmony module, the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) opened the hatch of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and moved inside to become the first people to enter the spacecraft on orbit. Starliner docked to the ISS yesterday afternoon to complete a major milestone of the Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) for the uncrewed vehicle. Because the docking occurred late in the ISS crew's workday, the hatch opening did not take place until this morning.

"This is a momentous day in NASA's history and just paving the way to the future as we start enabling commercial flights here in low Earth orbit, while NASA pivots to the moon and eventually on to Mars," said NASA Astronaut Bob Hines.

The crew will spend the next several days unloading some cargo from Starliner and performing systems tests inside the spacecraft. They will close the hatch on May 24 and then work with ground controllers on May 25 to see Starliner disconnect from the station and make its return flight home to Earth.

posted 05-25-2022 08:57 AM               

Hatch Closed and Undocking Preps Underway

With the intravehicular activity (IVA) hatch closed and leak checks now complete, Boeing's CST-100 Starliner is in a good configuration to return home on May 25. Expedition 67 crew members Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines closed the IVA hatch on Starliner on May 24 at 3:00 p.m. ET in preparation for undocking. During a farewell ceremony, the crew praised the Boeing and NASA teams for their commitment to the development of the spacecraft.

"It's been an honor to take part in this and be a tiny cog in the wheel that is the Commercial Crew Program and the amazing teams, the operational teams, the design teams, that put this vehicle together. It was really cool to be on this end of it and watch the culmination of those efforts and all of those activities. So, here's to you, to all the people who put their hearts and souls into designing and maintaining this vehicle. Well done. We were really proud to receive it up here and we're packing it up and getting ready to send it back to you. She'll be in as good of shape as she was when she left. We promise," said NASA astronaut Bob Hines.

Approximately one hour before undocking, mission operations teams will conduct a landing zone weather briefing. At 45 minutes before undocking, they will conduct the "go/no go" poll to proceed with undocking operations.

After Starliner completes its physical separation from the International Space Station, it will commence its outbound flyaround maneuver, moving above, around and then behind the orbiting laboratory before conducting a departure burn and exiting the approach ellipsoid (AE). Starliner will then start deorbit and landing operations, targeting a touchdown at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. ET.

posted 05-25-2022 01:56 PM               

Starliner Returning to Earth

At 2:36 p.m. ET, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS). Starliner is in the process of its departure maneuvers, which include the outbound fly around maneuver, exiting the ISS’s keep out sphere (KOS) and conducting a departure burn and then exiting the approach ellipsoid (AE).

A weather briefing held an hour before undocking predicted scattered clouds at 25,000 feet, hazy with 8-mile (12.875-kilometer) visibility and winds peaking at 8-14 knots. Those conditions are favorable for landing at the White Sands Space Harbor landing zone at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

After exiting the approach ellipsoid, Starliner will begin lowering its orbit and targeting its designated landing zone. It will then execute a tail-sun maneuver to orient its solar arrays sunward to top off its batteries, and then will set up for deorbit and reentry.

As the Starliner is flying over the Pacific Ocean, it will point the bottom of the vehicle toward the horizon in the direction the spacecraft is moving and commence the deorbit burn, firing four of its 12 aft-facing OMAC thrusters for approximately one minute. It will then orient itself to safely detach and dispose the service module before the crew module thrusters reorient the spacecraft in the proper re-entry attitude for entry interface (EI). Meanwhile, the service module will conduct a disposal burn, safely burning up over the Pacific Ocean.

About 16 minutes before touchdown, Starliner will begin entering Earth’s atmosphere, experiencing temperatures reaching roughly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Once through most of the atmosphere and having shed most of its velocity, Starliner will begin its parachute and landing system deployment sequences at roughly 30,000 feet above the ground. First, two smaller parachutes will deploy and pull off the forward heat shield, exposing the rest of the parachute system. Then, two drogue parachutes will deploy, followed by three pilot chutes that will pull out the three main parachutes. Starliner will spend the rest of its journey to Earth under those three main parachutes, and at approximately 3,000 feet, the base heat shield will jettison, revealing the landing airbags. The six airbags around the perimeter of the spacecraft will inflate, allowing for a safe, soft landing on dry land.

posted 05-25-2022 06:11 PM               

Boeing Starliner completes second Orbital Flight Test with landing in New Mexico

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has made its second landing from space, completing its first successful mission to the International Space Station.

The commercial crew capsule touched down on Wednesday (May 25), ending its second uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2). The spacecraft descended under parachutes to an airbag-cushioned landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. EDT (2249 GMT or 5:49 p.m. local).

posted 06-06-2022 09:16 PM               

Starliner returns to Kennedy Space Center for future flight

After a successful uncrewed flight test, Starliner's reusable crew module heads to the factory for re-flight prep.

Above: The CST-100 Starliner landed safely at the White Sands Space Harbor on the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on May 25 and was recovered and transported to a holding area. Teams inspected Starliner before its journey to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Boeing/Tom Rule)

Starliner is on the move again, crossing six states on its way back to Florida from where it landed in New Mexico. With the "Rosie the Rocketeer" anthropometric test device in the commander seat, the CST-100 Starliner capsule departed White Sands Missile Range last week, bound for Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Upon arrival, processing of the crew module will continue as teams perform further inspections, data collection, cargo and Rosie offload, and re-flight preparations for the post-certification mission, Starliner-1, which occurs after the Crew Flight Test. In parallel, the NASA and Boeing teams are analyzing the data in preparation for the upcoming Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station.

The Starliner capsule landed on May 25 and teams later prepared the spacecraft for transport, including downloading stored flight data as part of detailed post-flight analysis for future flights.

Starliner met its objectives during all the key phases of the test flight — launch, docking, undocking and landing — finishing with a picturesque touchdown similar to 2019 when it became the first American-made orbital crew capsule to land on land.

posted 06-09-2022 12:43 PM               

Starliner arrives back at Kennedy Space Center

After a cross-country journey through six U.S. states, the CST-100 Starliner arrived at Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 8.

Above: The reusable Starliner crew module is back in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility after its Orbital Flight Test-2. (Boeing/John Grant)

Starliner's homecoming is the culmination of the spacecraft spending six days in space, autonomously docked with the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time, as well as orbiting Earth 94 times and covering a total distance of 2,467,406 miles (3,970,905 kilometers). Starliner landed on May 25 at White Sands Space Harbor.

The crew module will be prepared for re-flight on the Starliner's first long-duration ISS crew rotation mission, known as Starliner-1, which occurs after the Crew Flight Test.