2024-05-06 20:40:30
The “Starliner” was actually supposed to transport astronauts long ago. But the project is far behind schedule. But now it should start.
It was exactly ten years ago that the then NASA boss Charles Bolden made a big announcement at a dramatically staged press conference in front of US flags and with tears of emotion in his eyes: “The most important nation in the world should not be involved in space travel depend on any other country,” said Bolden – and promised to return to its own flights to the International Space Station (ISS). At that time, Bolden talked about 2017 – but then little happened for a long time.
After the end of the space shuttle era, the US space agency Nasa no longer wanted to develop and build it itself this time, but instead commissioned the aircraft manufacturer Boeing and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX.
At that time, the long-established Boeing company was seen as having a clear advantage with its “Starliner” spacecraft and received a contract that was almost twice as lucrative. But then Boeing experienced crises, problems and delays. Early on Tuesday morning at 4:34 a.m. our time (Monday 10:34 p.m. local time) – ten years after the big announcement – it should finally start with a man.
“Starliner” is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Wednesday
With NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams on board, the “Starliner” is scheduled to take off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in the US state of Florida. The spacecraft is expected at the ISS on Wednesday, where Wilmore and Williams are expected to stay for around a week.
“It almost feels unreal,” said 58-year-old Williams, who has been on board the ISS twice before, at a press conference beforehand. “We wouldn’t be here if we weren’t ready,” said her 61-year-old astronaut colleague Wilmore, who has also been in space twice. “We are ready. The spacecraft is ready and the team is ready.”
Meanwhile, competitor SpaceX has long since overtaken Boeing. In 2020, its “Crew Dragon” successfully undertook a manned test to the ISS for the first time, and since then the astronaut transports have become so successful that the eighth regular crew with the “Dragon” is currently at the space station. For the planned arrival of the “Starliner”, the “Crew Dragon” at the ISS had to be moved to another docking station.
The “Starliner” is now intended to become an alternative to the “Crew Dragon” and thus greatly increase the astronaut capacity – but first the spaceship has to prove itself. During a first unmanned test in 2019, the “Starliner” did not even arrive at the ISS.
“Starliner” lands on Earth
The spacecraft is a partially reusable spacecraft that consists of a three-meter-high crew capsule and a service module and can carry up to seven crew members. However, “Starliner” is mainly designed for four members and, unlike the “Crew Dragon”, does not land on the water, but on the ground.
A second unmanned test flight was successful in 2022, but then numerous problems arose again, further delaying a planned manned test flight. Of course you wish you were further along, said Boeing manager Mark Nappi at a press conference. “There’s no doubt about it, but here we are.”
The current NASA boss Bill Nelson is also emphatically optimistic about the future of the “Starliner”: “History is being written here. We are in a golden age of space travel.”