Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew spacecraft docked at the International Space Station this afternoon, but not without drama. First, more helium leaks emerged once Starliner was in orbit, and then docking was delayed when some of Starliner’s thrusters went offline. Boeing and NASA officials concede they do not have all the answers, but are confident Starliner is perfectly capable of safely returning NASA’s two astronauts to Earth.
The fourth test flight of SpaceX’s enormous Starship/Super Heavy rocket appears to be a complete success. The Super Heavy booster made its first soft landing in the water and the Starship second stage flew three-quarters of the way around Earth, survived reentry, and made its own successful water landing. These are incremental steps towards full reusability of the system.
It took three tries, but Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test is now in orbit on its way to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will put the spacecraft through its paces over the next day before docking at the ISS tomorrow at 12:15 pm ET. They’ll undock about eight days later and return to Earth, landing in New Mexico.
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NASA said today the beloved Hubble Space Telescope will continue making discoveries into the mid-2030s despite failing gyroscopes. Of the six gyros that enable the telescope to point at specific regions of the universe, only two remain reliable. They have decided to use just one and keep the second as a backup, which will slow observations, but keep it viable for another decade.
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Here are links to all the articles published on SpacePolicyOnline.com over the last week, May 27-June 2, 2024 including our “What’s Happening in Space Policy” for this coming week. Click on each title to read the entire article.
NASA, Boeing and the United Launch Alliance said today the ground equipment problem that scrubbed yesterday’s launch of the Starliner Crew Flight Test is remedied. They are ready to try again on Wednesday. This will be the third attempt to launch the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner commercial crew spacecraft since May 6.
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Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of June 2-9, 2024 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session for at least part of the week.
China’s Chang’e-6 lunar sample return mission landed on the far side of the Moon this evening Eastern Daylight Time. China is the only country to land on the lunar farside, first with a lander/rover in 2020 and now with this mission that will return samples to Earth. …
The first customer to buy a flight on Elon Musk’s Starship rocket is calling it quits. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa said today it is taking too long for Starship to be ready to send him and a group of companions around the Moon and he needs to get on with his life. His “Dear Moon” project has come to an end.
The second attempt to launch Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test was halted today less than four minutes before liftoff. A computer called an automated ground launch sequencer that controls the launch in those last four minutes triggered the hold. The cause is still being determined and a new launch date is pending. NASA said late this afternoon they will not try tomorrow. The next opportunity is June 5.