"It was a pretty spectacular ride." Starliner crew busy on ISS as Boeing checks milestones
When NASA Administrator Bill Nelson asked astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore for their thoughts about Boeing's Starliner during a live streamed call to the International Space Station Monday, Wilmore responded, "Oh my. How long do you have? There's so much to say."
Wilmore went on to describe the ride to space on the Atlas V/Centaur, which he likened to "one extraordinary event after another".
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Docking Starliner to the Space Station on June 6 proved to be an eventful second day of flight. Not only did three additional helium leaks appear, but five thrusters in the service module shut off during the approach towards the space station. After teams performed a "hot fire", the thrusters were signaled to come back on and Starliner was able to safely dock to the orbiting outpost.
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing's Commercial Crew Program, spoke to the issues during a post-docking conference, stating that teams were well prepared to troubleshoot.
"It is a test flight. We said we were going to learn from it, and you can see that we've learned some things. We're going to apply those to what we do next," said Nappi.
Despite the long road to get to the launch and the rough start, Starliner has already checked off multiple milestones needed to certify it to transport NASA astronauts in rotation with SpaceX's Dragon, officials said Monday.
First astronauts to ride both Starliner and Atlas V/Centaur
With the Starliner launch on June 5, Wilmore and Williams became the first two astronauts to ride an Atlas V/Centaur. Wilmore described the ride on the Centaur upper stage as a feeling of "a half a hertz of a pulse every two seconds".
"It was a pretty spectacular ride," added Williams. "We've been waiting a long time for it, so when everything started going, I think both of us were like 'Whoa, here we go. We're on the ride. We're off to the races'". Williams then spoke about recording every detail of this test flight to share with upcoming Starliner flyers.
NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy asked the two astronauts how Starliner differed from the simulator.
"The simulator is a great simulator, but the spacecraft was precise. More so than I would have expected. We could stop on a dime, so to speak," said Wilmore. "It was a thrill to finally do it after doing it in the simulator for so long."
Starliner Crewed Flight Test Objectives
During the approach to the International Space Station, the astronauts temporarily manual piloted the Starliner spacecraft. This was the first objective checked off that is needed to certify Starliner for NASA crewed missions.
A safe haven demonstration was completed successfully on the second day docked. A safe haven refers to the spacecraft being able to shelter crew should something go wrong on the station.
Starliner also successfully entered quiescent, or inactive, mode.
Other objectives checked off the list include: a service module battery checkout, window cover installation, audio checks, and a dry run of vehicle powerup for undocking as well as propulsion system checkout procedures.
SpaceX Dragon, Roscosmos Soyuz, and Boeing Starliner - three crew capsules docked to station
Not only is the Starliner crew active, but the International Space Station is seeing record activity.
For the first time, not only does the U.S. have two separate commercial crew vehicles docked to the station with a SpaceX Dragon (Endeavour) also there, but a Russian Soyuz (MS-25) is also attached to the outpost — making for three crewed vehicles.
Also currently docked to the space station are Northrop Grumman's Cygnus space freighter and the Roscosmos Progress 87 and 88 cargo spacecrafts.
"It's pretty spectacular, all the spacecraft that are here," said Williams during the event on Monday.
"I don't remember if there has ever been a time where three human-rated spacecrafts have been attached to the International Space Station," said Wilmore.
Space Station pump issue update
On Monday, the Starliner crew assisted with the replacement of the water reclamation pump ? part of the life support system on the space station which recycles water from urine and sweat, turning it back into clean water.
The pump, which according to NASA was anticipated to last until the Fall, failed in late May. NASA, Boeing, and ULA were able to pack the pump into Starliner's cargo for a quick delivery.
"It was a great feeling of accomplishment," said Wilmore.
The two astronauts also assisted with research onboard the ISS on Monday. "Today was our first day where we stayed out of Starliner and got to do a little ISS research. That was really fun and rewarding," said Williams.
Starliner landing date
The Starliner and the two astronauts are set to land in the New Mexico desert no earlier than Tuesday, June 18. NASA stated on X (formerly Twitter), that these additional days will allow for Williams and Wilmore to assist with an upcoming spacewalk on Thursday, June 13. This will also allow additional time for engineers to complete system checkouts of Starliner, working towards its NASA certification.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at [email protected] or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ISS temporary home to Dragon, Starliner and Soyuz, astronauts note