Boeing / NASA - Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) patch.
May 21, 2022
Astronauts living aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch for the first time to Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft at 12:04 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 21, on its uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2.
Watch live coverage as astronauts welcome the next-generation spacecraft to the microgravity laboratory on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
Image above: NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Kjell Lindgren greet “Rosie the Rocketeer” inside the Boeing Starliner spacecraft shortly after opening its hatch. Image Credit: NASA.
Starliner launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on a flight test to the International Space Station at 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, May 19, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The uncrewed spacecraft successfully docked to the space station’s Harmony module at 8:28 p.m. EDT Friday, May 20.
For the flight test, Starliner is carrying about 500 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies and more than 300 pounds of Boeing cargo to the International Space Station. Following certification, NASA missions aboard Starliner will carry up to four crew members to the station, enabling the continued expansion of the crew and increasing the amount of science and research that can be performed aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Starliner hatch opening
The uncrewed flight test is designed to test the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable system as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.
Starliner is scheduled to depart the space station Wednesday, May 25, when it will undock and return to Earth, with a desert landing in the western U.S. The spacecraft will return with more than 600 pounds of cargo, including Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System reusable tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members. The tanks will be refurbished on Earth and sent back to station on a future flight.
Related articles:
Boeing’s Starliner Docks to Station for Cargo and Test Ops
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/05/boeings-starliner-docks-to-station-for.html
Liftoff! Atlas V Clears the Launch Pad with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2022/05/liftoff-atlas-v-clears-launch-pad-with.html
Related links:
NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live
Commercial Crew: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html
International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Image (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia/NASA TV/SciNews.
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