Boeing space capsule landed on Wednesday. The challenges were important for the American giant, who has been trying to succeed in this test flight for years in order to be able to compete with SpaceX.
Le Monde with AFP
Starliner, the Boeing space capsule, landed on Wednesday May 25, a successful conclusion of a crucial trial mission for the company, which wants to prove its ability to transport astronauts from NASA to the international space station ( ISS). The capsule, which has no passenger on board, landed in the American state desert of New Mexico, on the basis of White Sands, at 00 h 49, French time. “A beautiful landing in White Sand tonight,” said a commentator on the NASA video retransmission.
His descent had been hampered by his entry into the earth’s atmosphere, then by large parachutes, and the contact with the ground was amortized by large airbags. Without uncluttered landing allows the American aeronautical giant to finally conclude a successful mission from start to finish, after a failure in 2019. And, at the same time, to restore its image a little, after being overtaken by SpaceX, whose capsule has already served as a taxi for NASA since 2020. Boeing wishes in the future to rent the services to transport its astronauts to the international space station.
of the pitfalls
The Starliner’s chain was closed Tuesday by astronauts aboard the ISS. It reports with it 270 kg of loading, in particular reusable oxygen tanks, which will be filled on earth and returned to orbit later. Starliner had taken off from Florida on Thursday, May 19, and for the first time stowed at the ISS the next day. In recent days, many tests have been carried out to check the proper functioning of the vehicle, once connected to the flying laboratory. But the success of the stowage on Friday had represented a real relief for Boeing, after a first attempt in 2019. Starliner had at the time had to turn back earlier than expected, before succeeding in reaching the station.
After this first failed mission and a long period of adjustments, the test flight was to be retained in August 2021. But while the rocket was already on the shot, the valves of the capsule had found blocked due to a humidity problem. The ship had to return to the factory for repairs, for ten months.
This time, the flight to the ISS went well, despite some hooks, including a concern detected in the propulsion system: two of the 12 propellants used by the capsule to place itself on the right trajectory after takeoff did not work.
NASA and Boeing officials were reassuring on the importance of the incident. The capsule was also moored late, due to a technical concern on the device allowing it to cling to the station. 2> a next inhabited test
After this mission, a second demonstration flight, this time with astronauts on board, will have to be carried out so that the vessel obtains the homologation of NASA. Boeing hopes to be able to carry out it by the end of the year, then start the regular missions to the ISS. But the exact calendar will depend on the analysis of Starliner’s performance in recent days. The American space agency has signed contracts at a fixed price, both with SpaceX and Boeing.
By using two companies, she wishes to diversify her options, so that she never risks being without an American means of transport, as after the stop of the space shuttles in 2011. Until SpaceX, NASA was Indeed reduced to pay for places in the Russian Soyuz rockets.
The company of Elon Musk, however new to the aerospace industry compared to Boeing, has already sent 18 astronauts to the ISS with its own capsule, Dragon, as well as four private passengers , during a space tourism mission.