first flight to take astronauts to the ISS

The person in charge of placing the Starliner into orbit is the Atlas V rocket from the ULA (United Launch Alliance) company in which Boeing also participates in association with Lockheed Martin. When it occurs, this flight It will be the third executed by the capsule after completing a couple of rehearsals without personnel inside.

The Atlas V along with the Starliner will take off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the two astronauts who make up the ship’s crew remain. “We have received training and we have our footprints in every procedure that exists for this spacecraft“Butch Wilmore, one of the astronauts who will be in the capsule, said at a press conference prior to launch. “We are fully trained in all aspects of the Starliner.”

“We feel very safe and very comfortable when this spaceship flies,” astronaut Suni Williams declared, “This is where we’re supposed to be.”

Upon successful completion of this mission, NASA will begin the final certification process for the Starliner and its systems for crew rotation missions on the ISS. This is, therefore, the last space procedure before the ship is integrated into the Commercial Crew Program fleet, through which the US Space Administration uses private companies for this type of trips. It is the same one where SpaceX’s Crew Dragon is integrated, which has already accumulated 7 completed expeditions and one in progress.

First manned voyage

He The first of the launches occurred in 2019 also integrated into an Atlas V. Shortly after separation with the rocket, an anomaly in a mission timer on board caused the Starliner to execute a sequence of maneuvers at the wrong time and lose the possibility of establishing itself in the previously stipulated orbit. .

The mission control technicians on the ground acted quickly and managed to place the Starliner in another orbit at a lower altitude, but equally stable. The goal of docking with the ISS was scrapped and the team focused on evaluating the capsule’s performance in other equally essential aspects.

The second flight already served Boeing and NASA to ensure the viability of the Starliner. On this trip, also without a crew, everything went according to plan, managed to dock at the assigned dock on the International Space Station and return to the earth’s surface without setbacks; although not everything was ready for the first flight with astronauts.

After evaluating all the telemetry, NASA scheduled the manned launch to the International Space Station in July 2023 – just over a year after the first successful mission. However, a few weeks before the established date arrived, Boeing announced that it was postponing the mission indefinitely due to a series of problems in the parachute and harness system which serve to slow down the spacecraft in the last leg of the landing.

With all the technical problems resolved and the approval obtained from NASA, the spacecraft faces the first manned voyage in its history, which this year turns a decade. In 2014, the same US Space Agency chose Boeing as one of two contractors – the other was SpaceX – for the aforementioned Commercial Crew Program.

After the launch and separation of the Atlas V rocket, the Starliner will perform an engine burn to place the spacecraft and its crew in orbit; in a trip that is expected to last approximately 24 hours. As it is the last test flight before joining the active fleet, a series of exams will be carried out in order to receive the final certification from NASA.

The first of them will be demonstrate equipment and crew performance from launch to climb, including suit and seat behavior. During the approach, rendezvous and docking with the ISS, the Starliner team will evaluate the performance of the spacecraft’s thruster for manual abort scenarios, perform communications checks, test manual and automated navigation, and evaluate the navigation systems. vital support.

“The crew aboard the station will monitor the approach of the spacecraft and the Starliner crew will command any necessary onboard“, they explain from NASA. If everything goes as planned, the capsule will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.

Work on board and return

During their stay, the ship’s crew will evaluate the spacecraft, its displays and cargo transfer systems. “Wilmore and Williams will also enter the Starliner, close the hatch and demonstrate that the spacecraft can function as a safe haven should one be needed in the future,” the Space Agency says.

“Visiting spacecraft can used as safe havens in case of an emergency aboard the International Space Station.” Such as, for example, depressurization, fire or risk of collision with orbital debris.

Williams and Wilmore They will remain in orbit for about a week before boarding the Starliner again to head back to Earth. In the first moments of this trip, the crew will test manual handling of the craft before returning to autonomous flight.

They will have the first landing opportunity about 6 hours later of undocking from the ISS. During re-entry into the atmosphere, the spacecraft will begin to slow its orbital speed from 4,800 km/h, causing forces of up to 3.5 g.

“The forward heat shield of the spacecraft will be discarded after reentry,” NASA notes. A total of 5 parachutes will be deployed —two auxiliary and three main—that will further slow down the descent of the Starliner.

The base heat shield will come off at that point, exposing the final braking system using airbags. “The 6 main airbags will inflate at the base of the capsulecushioning its landing at approximately 1 km/h” somewhere in the western United States. One of the locations most likely to host the landing is located within the White Sands missile range (New Mexico).

ship and rocket

The Starliner measures 5 meters high and 4.6 meters in diameter and is made up of two modules. The crew module has 12 thrusters while the service module has 50, including conventional thrusters, those dedicated to orbital maneuver and those that would be used in case of having to abort.

By design, the spacecraft has space for a maximum of 7 occupants, although NASA only plans to use it with between 4 and 5 people when it enters official service. Boeing has contracted 6 long-duration flights to rotate personnel on the ISS. And it is possible that, depending on needs, they can be expanded.

According to Boeing, when there is availability will be able to sell the fifth seat located on board the ship. For example, they plan to be the platform used by future astronauts of the Orbital Reef space station on which Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, is working.

As for the rocket, it has a total height of 52 meters composed of two stages. The first measures 32.5 meters by 3.8 in diameter and has two combustion chambers, which are accompanied by a pair of boosters on each side of the main structure.

The uppermost stage uses another dual engine that will be responsible for the intermediate part of the launch and establishment in orbit. After running out of fuel, the Starliner will undock and will continue with its own means towards intercepting the ISS.