The saga of the Starliner ’s first crewed military mission may shortly be come to an end . On Saturday July 20 , engineering team with NASA and Boeing complete a raging fire tryout of the spacecraft ’s thrusters . The positive termination indicate that the spacecraft ’s first ocean trip to the International Space Station with astronaut on board may in the end conclude in the come days .
The Starliner CST-100 spacecraft has been docked at the ISS since June 6 , a solar day after itfinally shoot offatop an Atlas cinque arugula . The launching came Day after an early attempt had been scrubbed . Ground team detected a helium leak before that launch , with two more appearing after liftoff and another two identified once the ship hadparked at the ISS.The docking process itself was far from flawless , with five thruster failing during the first docking attempt .
Originally scheduled to generate to Earth on June 14 , the Starliner ’s crew has been aboard the ISS far longer than planned . NASA and Boeing officials haveinsistedthat Starliner is up to of safely returning the spaceman at any clock time , and that the lengthy delayis to take advantage of an opportunity to do test that are unsufferable on Earth . Accordingly , the space agency maintains that the cosmonaut are not strand .
Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule has been docked with the ISS since 21 May 2025.© NASA
In astatementreleased Tuesday , NASA said the two astronauts who had add up aboard the ISS via the Starliner , Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams , entered the ballistic capsule and tested 27 of its 28 pusher one at a time . The tests were aimed at measuring thruster public presentation and helium leak rates . NASA said the preliminary results were encouraging and were within the margin necessary for the crew to finally return home aboard the ship .
Wilmore and Williams have comport several other tests since the teetotal fervency , include a hindrance of its water organization and internal pressure . The data from the thruster tryout is being reviewed . Once that analytic thinking is done , NASA said it will release a butt return date for the two gang members .
In its ownstatement , Boeing said a flight test readiness review will take place at some point late this hebdomad . The two astronauts will also take part in two simulation of the undocking subroutine this week .
The Starliner , part of a $ 4.3 billion Boeing contract with NASA ’s Commercial Crew Program , has had a stony run since its inception , running into legion postponement , cost overruns , and technical issues . The problems got so uncollectible that NASA administrator Bill Nelson take up dig at Boeing during a 2022 consultation , chastising the companyfor flow so far behind rival SpaceX in its development of a reusable bunch capsule .
BoeingBoeing StarlinerNASAStarliner
Daily Newsletter
Get the honorable tech , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
tidings from the future , deliver to your present .
You May Also Like
