The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is heading to the ISS, but not without problems
The long-suffering Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which has been tested for more than 2 years, was launched on May 19, 2022, in the second unmanned test flight to the ISS. But things are not going well with the ship again.
Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (Boe-OFT 2) was launched from the launch site No.41 of the US Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V rocket. This is the first Starliner flight since the partially successful Boe-OFT mission, which failed to reach the ISS due to incorrect operation of the software. This time the ship is heading to the ISS, but also with adventures.
During the correction of the orbit, two of the four involved engines could not work properly, so the automation started other engines. According to the mission leaders, this will not affect the task, because the CST-100 Starliner has 12 engines, so the task can be transferred to spare ones. But it still feels a bit tense.
The Boe-OFT 2 mission is to last 6 days. The capsule loads 245 kg of payloads for the ISS, which mimics the mass of astronauts in the next manned missions. Starliner will be unloaded on the ISS, and used oxygen cylinders will be loaded as mass simulators.
The ISS dock is scheduled for Friday night to Saturday. And the Starliner will land at the White Sands test site in New Mexico on May 25, 2022. Unlike the SpaceX Crew Dragon, the Boeing spacecraft does not land on water.