Astronauts working on the international space station (ISS) opened the hatch of Boeing's CST-100 starliner spacecraft for the first time at 12:04 noon EST on Saturday, May 21, during the unmanned orbital flight test-2 (oft-2) mission. Starliner was launched from the space launch site-41 rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force base, Florida, at 6:54 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 for flight tests to the international space station. The unmanned spacecraft successfully docked with the space station's harmony module at 8:28 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, May 20.
Boeing's anthropometric test device Rosie the Rocketeer once again conducted the second unmanned orbital flight test for NASA's commercial crew program on the commander's seat of the company's CST-100 starliner spacecraft. Rosie's first flight, oft, provided hundreds of data points about what astronauts would experience during the flight. In oft-2, he also helped maintain starliner's center of gravity during ascent, docking, decoupling and landing.
During the flight test, starliner carried about 500 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies, as well as more than 300 pounds of Boeing cargo to the international space station. After certification, NASA's starliner mission will carry up to four crew members to the orbital outpost, which will continue to expand the crew and increase the number of science and research that can be carried out in the space laboratory.
The unmanned flight test aims to test the end-to-end capability of manned systems as part of NASA's commercial crew program. Oft-2 will provide valuable data for NASA to certify Boeing's crew transportation system for regular shuttle trips to the space station with astronauts.
Starliner is scheduled to leave the space station on Wednesday, May 25, when it will unlock and return to earth and land in the desert of the western United States. The spacecraft will return with more than 600 pounds of cargo, including reusable nitrogen and oxygen charging system tanks that provide breathing air for space station staff. The cans will be refurbished on earth and returned to the space station in future flights.
Interestingly, when the space station members opened the starliner door, they were surprised to find that their partners on earth also brought them a doll of jebediah Kerman, the character of the Kampala space program.
