Boeing’s astronaut capsule arrives at the space station after thruster trouble

Boeing’s new capsule arrived on the Worldwide House Station on Thursday, delayed by last-minute thruster hassle that nearly derailed the docking for this first test flight with astronauts.

The 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) linkup over the Indian Ocean culminated greater than a day of constant drama for Boeing’s astronaut flight debut.

The Starliner capsule already had one small helium leak when it rocketed into orbit with two NASA astronauts Wednesday. Boeing and NASA managers have been assured they might handle the propulsion system regardless of the issue and that extra leaks have been unlikely. However simply hours into the flight, two extra leaks cropped up.

Later, 4 of the capsule’s 28 thrusters went down. NASA check pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to restart three of them, offering sufficient security margin to proceed. By then, Starliner had handed up the primary docking alternative and circled the world for an additional hour alongside the station earlier than shifting in.

It was not instantly identified whether or not the thrusters issues have been associated to the sooner leaks.

Earlier within the day, earlier than the thrusters malfunctioned, Boeing spokesman Jim Might mentioned the leaks posed no safety issues for the astronauts or the mission.

Might mentioned the capsule holds loads of helium reserves to make up for what’s misplaced. The propulsion system will likely be disabled as soon as the capsule is docked on the space station because the thrusters is not going to be wanted then, he famous.

Helium is used to pressurize the gasoline strains of Starliner’s thrusters, that are important for maneuvering. Earlier than liftoff, engineers devised a plan to work round any further leaks within the system. A defective rubber seal, no larger than a shirt button, is believed chargeable for the unique leak.

After the space shuttles retired, NASA employed Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX’s taxi service started in 2020. Boeing was supposed to start out across the identical time, however was held up for years by security issues and different troubles.

Boeing plans to maintain Starliner on the space station for a minimum of eight days earlier than guiding it to a touchdown within the western U.S.

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