Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have opened the hatch of the recently docked Boeing Starliner, effectively ending a streak of misfortunes over the years for the spacecraft.
The successful test mission helps to secure a second commercial carrier for shuttling astronauts to and from the space station. Elon Musk’s SpaceX Crew Dragon completed the same test in 2019 and has since taken 18 astronauts to the destination.
Last time the Starliner attempted this spaceflight three years ago, it didn’t make it to the station. A software glitch caused it to instead travel onto the wrong preliminary orbit.
Starliner’s launch was free of those major problems Thursday when it launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just before 7 p.m. EDT, though it did experience some thruster issues. The spacecraft blasted off with an Atlas V rocket by Boeing, a venture of the United Launch Alliance.
The thruster surprises didn’t prevent the droplet-shaped capsule from docking at the station a day later, and astronauts were able to go inside to check out the spacecraft at about 11:30 a.m. EDT Saturday.
Starliner’s test mission did not take any crew up to the space station, but it was flying with a manikin (or womanikin?), dubbed Rosie the Rocketeer. Rosie wore a blue flight suit and red polka-dotted mask made by a real Boeing “Rosie the Riveter” during World War II. The purpose of the human simulator was to collect data on cabin conditions during the journey.
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