The journey of Starlinerthe new spacecraft from Boeing designed to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, it got off to a good start. After several attempts – and years of delay – the first launch with crew on board was carried out successfully on June 5th. But NASA makes it known that not everything is going as planned. «The teams have identified three helium leaks on the spacecraft – they write on X – One of these had already been discussed before the flight together with a management plan. The other two are new since the spacecraft arrived in orbit. Two of the affected valves have been closed and the spacecraft remains stable.” A problem that therefore appears to be under control. Starliner is currently approaching its destination, the International Space Station, to begin the docking phase. The trip should end at 6.15pm (Italian time).
The mission that started on June 5 is a fundamental step in allowing Boeing to obtain certification for the transport of crews. A project, that of Starliner, started in 2014 and commissioned by NASA itself. There have been over the years several delays and technical problemswhich led Boeing to lose the “challenge” with Space which with its Crew Dragon has been active since 2020. The first voyage with crew on board was initially scheduled for May 7th. But it was canceled precisely to investigate thoroughly a valve defect on the Atlas V rocket of the United Launch Alliance which regulates the pressure of liquid oxygen. The defect was later judged to be a minor problem: the loss of helium caused by the defect was judged not risky for the mission. «Sometimes in space flights we plan for unexpected events and design the vehicle in order to have a margin – he declared Steve Stickhead of NASA’s commercial transport program on the Space.com website – In our case, we have a margin in the helium tank and we can handle a leak a hundred times worse than this». The launch was attempted again on June 1st, but a few minutes earlier it was suspended again. On June 5th, at third attempt, Starliner has left.
In addition to the known leak, flight controllers detected signs of two other helium leaks elsewhere in the hydraulic system. The two astronauts on board, Commander Barry E. Wilmore and Pilot Sunita L. Williams, they stopped the losses. However, those responsible for the mission made it known that there are backup plans in case the first loss – the known one – got worse. and that therefore everything remains under control, with new plans involving the two new losses identified during the voyage. After arriving at the International Space Station – it will take longer than expected to arrive to conduct all the tests on the spacecraft – the two astronauts will remain there for a weekto then return to earth with a journey of approximately 45 minutes which involves the use of a parachute and an innovative Airbag system.
Starliner is in fact a spacecraft built for be reused up to ten times. It can remain attached to the International Space Station for much longer than this first trip – 7 months – and can carry up to seven people. For Boeing, the success of this maiden voyage is paramount: Lost the lead with Space an equally reliable partner for NASA. And not only that: the goal is also to transform this spacecraft into one tool for space tourism. And therefore offer trips into orbit to private individuals, for a fee. As Space X is already doing, together with Axiom.
