Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft can’t seem to catch a break. Although it ultimately successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), five of the capsule’s reaction thrusters malfunctioned, delaying docking by over an hour.
When Starliner lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket at 10:52 am EDT on June 5, 2024 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, it looked as though its 14-year jinx may have been left behind. Even though one thruster was suffering a small but persistent helium leak, Wednesday’s launch went off without incident as the spacecraft, with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard, soared into orbit.
Unfortunately, Starliner went back to form as the astronauts carried out a series of maneuver tests as Starliner headed toward the space station for a June 6 rendezvous scheduled for 12:15 pm EDT. According to NASA, five of the craft’s thrusters that control its attitude malfunctioned and helium leaks were identified in three of them, including the one found before launch.
Starliner docking
After consulting with Boeing and NASA engineers, the crew managed to recover four of the five thrusters and cut off the leaks by closing all the helium manifolds in the attitude thruster systems. These were only opened again before docking, which was postponed until 1:34 pm EDT while Starliner remained on a parallel course to the ISS. After docking, the manifolds were closed and Starliner’s systems were checked again.
There is no indication that the technical problem will affect Wilmore and Williams’s stay on the station or their return to Earth next week.
“We’ve had an ideal start for this flight test that our team has been working toward for some time,” said Boeing’s Mark Nappi, program manager for Starliner. “We are going to be careful with this spacecraft, making sure we are listening to what its systems are telling us. So far, Starliner is telling us everything we want to hear, but we are not taking anything for granted.”
Source: NASA
