Boeing capsule successfully docks at the International Space Station – DNOTICIAS.PT

Boeing’s Starliner capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time Friday, 24 hours after liftoff from the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the United States.

The CST-100 Starliner spacecraft has docked safely with the ISS Harmony module, after a series of independent maneuvers supervised by members of Expedition 67 aboard the station.

Unmanned Starliner arrived at the International Space Station with about 230 kg of materials and equipment from NASA and 136 kg of material from Boeing, as well as a stereoscopic test device with 15 sensors that will collect data on future astronauts during flight.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule, which is about 5 meters high and capable of carrying a crew of up to seven people, departed for the orbital laboratory Thursday after being launched atop an Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Force space station in Florida.

The success of this crucial unmanned mission, called OFT-2 (Orbital Flight Test 2), aims to demonstrate the capabilities of the Starliner, from launch to return to Earth, thereby obtaining NASA certification that will allow it to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station. , as did the private company SpaceX.

The capsule will spend five days in the orbital laboratory and then embark on a return trip that will end in the New Mexico desert, where it will disembark 270 kilograms of cargo, including three reusable tanks for oxygen and nitrogen that provide breathable air for the crew members. station crew.

Prior to this mission, Boeing made the first attempt in 2019 with the Starliner, which successfully launched after liftoff into orbit, but failed on its final mission to reach the space station.

Subject to certification, Boeing has a contract worth more than US$4.2 billion (four billion euros) for six more missions to the International Space Station, with the first manned mission scheduled for the end of this year, on a date yet to be determined.[quatromilhõesdeeuros)paramaisseismissõesàISSestandoaprimeiramissãotripuladaprevistaparaofinaldesteanonumadataaindapordeterminar[quatromilmilhõesdeeuros)paramaisseismissõesàISSestandoaprimeiramissãotripuladaprevistaparaofinaldesteanonumadataaindapordeterminar