In the race to win space, the POT continues to take advantage. Although there are many journeys that remain in history, this Wednesday, June 5, 2024, will also be a date that will remain etched in memory. The reason? The ship Boing Starliner took off towards the International Space Station (ISS)having on board Butch Wilmore and Suni Williamswho became the first astronauts to travel on this aircraft as part of the Commercial Crew Program of the company.
The statistics did not show good signs, considering that he had had six failed attempts. He Boeing Starliner It took off for the first time in May 2022, although without a crew. It was a test and it was a complete success, despite having also suffered numerous delays. With that trip they verified that they were on the right path and their next step was to send a ship to the International Space Stationthis time crewed by Wilmore and Williams.
The initial planning indicated that this mission should be launched in December 2022 and was postponed to February 2023, then to March, April and June of the same year. However, in early June 2023, Boeing and NASA announced that it was postponed until 2024.
When explaining the reasons, the POT – during the launch broadcast – noted that a computer system, called a ground launch sequencer, found anomalies when the countdown was at three minutes and 50 seconds and automatically executed a stop.
The manager of the NASA Commercial Crew Program, Steve Stitchcalled the delays necessary: “It has been important that we take our time to understand all the complexities of each issue, including redundant capabilities of the propulsion system and any implications for our Interim Human Rating Certification [la certificación de que una nave espacial o vehículo de lanzamiento es capaz de transportar personas de forma segura]”.
The moment of joy
After those frustrations, the moment of euphoria arrived. As planned, the rocket took off this Wednesday at 10:52 AM EDT from Cape Canaveralin Florida. This time the ship did not suffer any incident and just two minutes after the engines were turned on it was already in space.
The device, propelled by a rocket Atlas V of United Launch Alliance (ULA)takes astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS, for its acronym in English), where they will remain for a week before returning to Earth.
The two astronauts are veteran pilots of the US Armed Forces and each traveled to the ISS twice. During the flight, in-orbit tests will be carried out on the performance of the life support system, the manual and automatic control of the ship and other critical elements before docking with the ISS. After a week on the station, the astronauts are scheduled to land in southwest USA.
