Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft recently completed its OFT-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He showed NASA that he was well and truly ready for new adventures.
In a published message on Twitter on May 30, 2022, Boeing’s Starliner shared a video featuring an idyllic view from the window of its CST-100 capsule. As a reminder, the Starliner spacecraft was heading into space during its recent uncrewed test flight.
Like a fish in water
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday, May 19, 2022, carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
The filmed sequence shows the Earth appearing. It shows an orbital sunset as the spacecraft heads towards the International Space Station (ISS). We can also see around the 43 seconds an object moving at full speed – perhaps a piece of space rock or a satellite.
Towards new adventures?
The capsule returned to Earth following a parachute-assisted landing in the New Mexico desert on Wednesday, May 25. Regarding a future new mission, NASA should first review data from OFT-2 before launching the Boeing Starliner again.
As a reminder, the OFT-2 mission didn’t go well — two of Starliner’s thrusters failed during its insertion into orbit (its motion was to get into position to orbit the Earth). The failure occurred about half an hour after launch. Luckily, an emergency thruster fired at the right time and Starliner managed to complete the flight.
Boeing and NASA have not yet announced whether astronauts will participate in the next Starliner mission, but they hope that it can take place before the end of 2022.