With only a test dummy aboard, Boeing’s astronaut capsule pulled up and parked at the International Space Station for the first time — a huge achievement for the company after years of false starts.
NASA wants redundancy when it comes to the Florida-based astronaut taxi service. Administrator Bill Nelson said Boeing’s long road with Starliner underscores the importance of having two types of crew capsules. U.S. astronauts were stuck riding Russian rockets once the shuttle program ended, until SpaceX’s first crew flight in 2020.
Before letting Starliner get close to the space station Friday, Boeing ground controllers practiced maneuvering the capsule and tested its robotic vision system. Everything checked out well, Boeing said, except for a cooling loop and the two failed thrusters. The capsule held a steady temperature, however, and had plenty of other thrusters for steering.
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